Not Gone Fishin'
by shabbytiger
Summary: Eliot has plans for his weekend that he doesn't want to share, but ends up with an unexpected companion anyway. Somehow this trip leads them on another, altogether more personal journey. MA content in later chapters-be warned!   Hitter & Thief FTW!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.:)**

**Started as a One Shot-let me know what you think and I may continue? :)**

"Whatcha doing." Parker appeared behind his shoulder like a blonde Jack in the Box and Eliot clenched his teeth as he turned, muscles taut beneath his shirt.

"Parker, what is it that I do?"

"Read, cook, fish, drink, sing-" She counted the list off on her fingers and it took him a second to quash his surprise at her reply.

"For the team Parker. What I do for the team."

"Oh. Well mostly hit people. Hard." She demonstrated like she was Rocky, celebrating enthusiastically over an imaginary knock-out. Eliot simply watched her as she let it all out. The girl was overflowing with enough energy to power a small country. Hardison could probably prove it with some hi-tec programme too.

"Just like that, that's right." He smiled his most genial smile at her, noting the suspicion it prompted and leant in, voice low. She bent her head in response, eager to hear something secretive. Because she was Parker and curious was her middle name. "Despite this understanding Parker, you still insist on creeping up on me like a stealth bomber at every opportunity, and it is only because I am so very good at what I do Parker, that I do not-" he copied her boxing moves as her eyes followed his hands, mesmerised-"and hurt you. So for the three _thousandth_ time, _don't_ sneak up on me."

She nodded, but her expression showed no sign whatsoever of listening. She looked up at him through her fringe, and he slipped his now closed cell into his pocket.

"So whatcha doing?" She grinned at him, utterly unfazed by his avoidance technique. He remembered he could walk away, and promptly turned to do so.

"None of your business Parker. Have a great weekend." He almost added, with Hardison, but didn't. The late night visits had stopped between them, as Eliot had wanted, but Parker remained attentive during office hours and on jobs. Nothing inappropriate by Parker standards, which honestly was a wide net, but still, he found himself censoring his own behaviour whenever H was around, and the act was tiring. The team was the team. Of-course nothing had been said to make Eliot think he should do those things, but as a guy, and as H's friend, he did it anyway. It had shocked him to realise that his protective instincts ran beyond physical hurts for the team. His instincts told him to ease off on the teasing and the tactile with Parker, and it worried him that it was proving quite so difficult. Who knew?

"Won't you be around?" Her disappointment was flattering, but a huge red flag too.

"Whatever job you got going," he lowered his tone in case Nate or Sophie heard from the breakfast bar,"if you need a hitter, reschedule. I'm gone fishin' this weekend." Plus he was pretty certain Hardison had other plans for the thief that did not include theft.

She pouted and then narrowed her eyes at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's tragic."

"Fishin' is not tragic, it's spiritually soothing, so back off."

"Not the fishing part. The "if I'm wanted then it must be for work" part."

Eliot blinked, genuinely speechless for a second. He puzzled over her words and she looked quizzically back. For a minute that seemed slower than others, they cocked their heads and examined each other, weighing up the relative oddness in the other like they always did.

"Seriously, y'all look like Alien V Predator when you do that weird head tilt at each-other. Freaks me the frog out." Hardison broke the moment as he strolled by, throwing an arm about Parker's shoulder as he did so. Eliot hid his grin at the gesture, feeling bad for laughing, it was just that Hardison was a text book case when it came to women, and by extension, dealing with other men around women. His chest could have been pumped full of helium it had been so puffed out the last few days. It did confirm to Eliot that his distancing from Parker had been the right call though, and that made him feel less of a dick. Parker may not understand it, but he was still protecting her in his own way.

"And on that note, I'm outta here." Raising a hand to his head in mock salute, he span on his heel and called a see ya later to Nate and Sophie who were having yet another pointless row when they could have been upstairs working their issues out privately. Honestly, Eliot was starting to feel like he, Parker and Hardison were enduring a bizarre pseudo-parental divorce. Hardison caught up to him before he reached the door.

"Wait up dude what's the hurry?" Eliot bit back the reply that flittered through his head and sighed.

"What Hardison?" He barked, impatient to get going. It was a twelve hour drive give or take, and he wanted on the road as soon as possible. The hacker glanced around and Eliot resisted rolling his eyes. What was with the covert shit?

"Parker said you're going fishin'?" Eliot nodded, with a shrug."Yeah, I'm'a need you to nix that and keep an eye on Parker."

Hardison gave him the look he gave marks when he was using his I'm in charge here spiel. Frankly there was so much wrong with the hackers statement on so many levels that Eliot barely managed to suppress his laughter.

"Well good luck with that," Eliot patted his team mate on the arm, threw a what were you thinking grin at him, and carried on, only for the hacker to stop him. Again. He growled in frustration, and wondered, not for the first time, if any of the team had any clue just how much he reigned his temper in on their behalf. Looking at Hardison, he knew the answer.

"Eliot-"

"No." He hissed it, conscious of eyes and little blonde ears listening in, not wishing to seem over cruel. "I got plans H, so you and Parker enjoy your weekend without a babysitter OK? You're a big boy now, you'll do fine."

"But I won't be here. I'm flying across country for a gathering."

"A gathering?" Is that what they called it Eliot thought, and wasn't even sure he wanted to know more, but asked anyway. "Of what? So take her with you."

"It's a thing," uncomfortable Hardison always amused him usually but now, he was just plain irritating, "I have to go to, which is not suitable for a lady such as Parker, and you know, it's a real underground thing I shouldn't even be discussing but security is macked out and I can't leave her in a room all by herself for a weekend that's not cool and-"

"You don't want Parker seeing you dress up in your Warcraft gear do you?"

Hardison's face was comical as his eyes widened in denial but his mouth just formed repeated ohs like a goldfish. Eliot raised the cell he had sneaked from his back pocket, showing H the screen. It was his confirmation email for the convention.

"How d'you do-"

"I like to know where y'all are. It's my job to know. Two cells in that city at present but both inactive and a heavy Fed presence because they don't know that. Oh and a Russian gang trafficking guns an a small scale, so avoid any Red Square restaurants. As safe as anywhere and nowhere. You'll both be fine."

"You and Parker really need to re evaluate what y'all do with your free time is all I'm sayin'."

"Whatever bro' just take her with you and let me leave would you?"

"Uh-uh, I just got me an in, and I am not risking an out because of my geekhood. Help a brother out man."

"I am going fishing. What is it with my plans anyhow? Like I can't have any?"

Hardison looked at him strangely.

"Right Eliot, cos you gonna get a call from the fishes askin' where you at when you don't show. C'mon man."

"She'll be fine here, with these guys." Who chose that moment to switch up the volume on their bickering. "Or alone. Parker can cope."

"Yeah, yeah she can." Now Hardison leant down to tell him something and Eliot just knew, his weekend was totalled. "'Cept that particular piece of jewellery she once possessed then gave back for the hell of it?"

Eliot nodded, grinning, because well, it was typical Parker. Doing shit because she could, or was bored. Or happened to be passing.

"Well it's on show in towen this weekend and my girl's eyes are getting way too big when watching the news reports dude. And I have already ran the security and that place is lock down lock tight locked up. If it were possible, which I doubt, it is not a one woman job."

"Even if that woman is Parker?" Eliot trusted the hacker on his business, but Parker really was a natural born thief, half cat half magpie.

"Yuppity yup. And you know she'll try. Left to her own devices, she _will_ try."

Sighing, Eliot glanced over at the slim blonde, who sat on the counter eating cereal from the box, riveted by the back and forth between Nate and Sophie, like she was watching live action Pay Per View. He weighed up his options. Crap.

"Fine I won't go."

Hardison hugged him, and offered a dozen different payments, none of which Eliot wanted, and called out to Parker who swivelled her head as if to say shush to a loud talker in a theatre. Then she seemed to recall where she was and slipped off the counter to come over.

"Hey, turns out Eliot isn't going fishing after all."

"He said he was." Accusing eyes turned on him and Eliot bit his lip and clenched his fist partially before throwing himself on the couch.

"I'll go another time."

"Can't I go with you?" A confused question intoned so innocently that Eliot opened an eye to spy on her. Paranoia was crawling in his veins as she stared back, wide eyed.

"Fishin'?" Hardison looked at her strangely."You can stay here, watch some DVDs, hang out-"

"I like fishing. It's an excellent centreing exercise." Now both Eliot and Hardison looked at her askance. Eliot shifted uncomfortably, wishing he never mentioned damn fishing in the first place. Hello totalled weekend. Not that it was Parker's fault exactly. More like her pansy assed boyfriend too scared to be honest. Sometimes it occurred to Eliot, that broken as he undoubtedly was, he was more whole than any of his team mates by a country mile. So now what? He could just front with Parker, but then if she didn't want to make the trip and stayed behind, he was stuck. Deciding he may actually salvage some of his plans he shrugged easily and lay his arms on the back of the sofa.

"Sure why not. We'll go fishin'. Go pack a bag."

Hardison switched his gaze between hitter and thief, suddenly not happy with the whole idea at all if his frown was any indication.

"How many tents you got again Eliot?"

"Okay seriously, you are pissin' me off now man. You make me babysit your girlfriend so you can dress up in leather and shit, ruining my plans, then you get shitty about it? Whatever bro'."

"Ready." Parker appeared at his shoulder again, and Eliot stared at the small pack in her hand.

"What the hell d'you pack?"

"Harness, toothbrush and pants." Parker listed it, and grimaced at the tooth brush part. "That's why it took me so long. I didn't have a new one."

Eliot raised an eyebrow at her, so long? She was gone like a minute tops. "Where d'you get a new toothbrush then?"

She glanced at Hardison, who swallowed nervously.

"Not my bag?" His voice squeaked a little. "You didn't just look inside my bag and invade my privacy like that I know you didn't-"

"Happy Hordeing Hardison." She smiled at him, then looked at Eliot expectantly, and he rose from his seat, feeling like the last sane man alive. "So what we waiting for?"

.

"Ahem." Hardison coughed and she turned, puzzled. Hardison did the head nod but as it wasn't in a job context as in get over there or get here now, she couldn't translate it and Eliot almost screamed in sheer bloody frustration.

"I think," he told her, through gritted teeth," that he wants a proper goodbye."

Enlightenment dawned in her eyes and she nodded sagely like she had known all along. Give him strength. Looking away, because of good manners and a sudden violent urge to do, well, violence, he couldn't help see their reflection, on the wall monitor and saw the goodbye hug coupled with dual cheek kisses. He despaired of them all, he decided as the awkwardness finally stopped. Thank God.

Nate and Sophie paused long enough to wave off the kids, to Eliot's morbid amusement, and finally, he was at his truck, up a passenger, but with hope he could talk her into keeping quiet about his trip.

"Get in Parker and don't, under any circumstances mess with my radio."

"Sure." She climbed in the passenger side and sat there so meek that he almost did a double take.

Suspicious as hell, he climbed in and began to start the engine, when she turned and pinned him with big eyes and a secret smile.

"So where are we really going?"

"Excuse me?" Caught off guard, he stalled, trying to work out what she knew and how. It was an unnerving experience.

"Please Eliot." she rolled her eyes as she shifted to face him fully. "You are wearing a dress shirt not a work shirt, you scrubbed your nails raw,"she ticked each off on her fingers," you have the cologne Sophie bought for you last Christmas on, you aren't wearing a hat on and your hair smells all coconuty and there is no fishing gear in your trunk."

"How d'you know what's in my trunk?" Eliot dealt with the safest first, looking for outrage and finding grudging admiration instead. she shrugged, looking a bit too clever and pretty in the dwindling sunlight through the truck window.

"I put my bag in there." Oh. She was lightning she really was since he hadn't even seen it happen. He couldn't help be impressed.

"Right." Well, screw it then he figured, putting the truck in gear. "We, Parker, are going to a wedding. I guess you are my plus one. Cool with that?"

"I love weddings!" She squealed and clapped excitedly, before noting his expression and piping down, turning in her seat to buckle up.

Eliot pulled into traffic and glanced at the girl beside him warily. How his weekend had turned into this he wasn't quite sure and honestly, as she smiled into the sunshine outside, rolling down the window to let the air in, he wasn't altogether sure he minded. Which spelt trouble. He knew that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but a love of these characters.**

The plan was to drive all night and arrive in the morning, take an hour or so to sleep then show his face at the wedding. Glancing at Parker, Eliot wondered if that was going to work. So far she had remained quiet, content to flip through the radio stations, which despite what he considered to be a very clear warning, had been her first action as they pulled up at the lights at the end of the street. He figured she was setting the tone for the trip. Knowing just how inquisitive she was, her lack of questions regarding the wedding surprised him. He found himself wanting to tell her, and getting annoyed that she refused to ask. So strange the blonde thief beside him. Who did that anyway? She had no clue where they were driving to, how long it would take and had packed a toothbrush and pants. Infuriated, he gripped the wheel tighter and shifted gears.

"So what's my role in this scam? This plus one gig." Her question after such a long bout of silence startled him, though outwardly he showed no sign of it. Then her words sunk in.

"It's not a job Parker. It's just a wedding."

"I don't get it." She really didn't. Eliot sighed. This was how his weekend could still get totalled. The task of normalising Parker in eleven hours. He doubted it was possible.

"There's nothing to get," he looked at her quickly and mellowed at the sheer panic in her eyes. "Look we show up, eat, drink, congratulate the couple and leave. Ta da. It's not hard."

"But I don't-I haven't-who will I be?"

Eliot looked at her curiously, not sure he had heard her right. "You, Parker. You'll just be you."

"But I've never been to a wedding before." She began to twist her hands in her lap, and the uncharacteristic nervousness she was throwing off made Eliot wonder a lot about her odd contradictory nature.

"We've been to about four in the last year alone Parker."

"But not as us!" Apparently it mattered a great deal to the blonde thief, and he held back the dismissive retort he would usually make. He waited, eyes on the road but ears on his passenger, knowing she would carry on once she worked out what she wanted to share. It took five minutes.

"Those were jobs. Sophie told me what to wear and who to be. I don't - this is like repelling without a harness and I would rather go fishing." She folded her arms and produced the trademark pout. Eliot honest to God could not figure her out.

"You know there's something wrong with you right?" He tried to tease her out of her slump, but his gut twisted when she answered in a small voice.

"Yes. Which is why I don't get invited to peoples weddings. I crash them for work."

"Hey Parker," Eliot did not like the guilt sitting in the pit of his stomach at all,"I didn't mean to-"

"Can we pull over to get some snacks? I want cookies."

Spying a gas station up ahead he nodded, shifting his eyes to her profile as she stared out of the window. She looked sad. He hated when she looked sad. Damn when that bastard psychic had made her cry he had almost offed the guy just cos she asked. Parker was insane but in an upbeat way that he ended up laughing with mostly. She lightened the group with her crazy. In a flash of curiosity he glanced at her again, wondering if she knew that. If she cultivated it just to keep them all from getting morose about the bad shit they heard from clients all the time. It gave him pause to think of her doing that consciously.

"Want anything?" As he parked she was already climbing out, and he tugged some cash from his pocket and tossed it to her as she asked.

"Pay for me would you? I'm gonna fill 'er up." She scooped up the notes and gave him a grin that he couldn't help return. Damn that girl loved the feel of money. At least her eyes weren't sad any more. He watched from his position as he fuelled up, scanning the area automatically, alert to the other customers in the shop and their proximity to Parker as she plundered the snack aisle. She garnered the interest of the teenager on the till, he could see that from here. Eliot frowned as he replaced the nozzle in the pump and closed the cap a little too hard. Damn kid was all but panting at her. She, as usual was oblivious.

Dammit Hardison, he cursed his friend as he watched her bound out of the doors, all smiles and sunshine hair, even as the light was fading. They were still hours from New York, and he had hoped to make it through to the I-78 before Friday night in New York made it impossible. Just thinking of wall to wall people and buildings and yellow cabs made him shudder. He could have taken another route but figured, get on the road and drive, and cuss out all the other annoying drivers as much as he liked. He didn't relish having to squash his road rage for the next eleven hours.

As he climbed in, and started the truck up, she reached the passenger door and he leant over to let her in, and almost slipped a gear when she flashed open her jacket to display the most junk food he had ever seen crammed into a coats lining before. Her complete and utter glee as she closed the coat and got in was palpable.

"Drive Clyde!" She threw her arm forward and fluttered her eyelashes at him, her accent quite charming. The lessons from Sophie were paying off at least.

"Seriously _Bonnie_? What is this Grand Theft Sugar Rush?" He raised an eyebrow at her even as he peeled from the forecourt. She laughed, and it swelled his pride a little too much. He always could get a laugh out of her, and she him when she wanted to. Since she veered between crazy and control freak on a daily basis, it always did his ego good when she got him. Her sense of humour was off the wall at best, whilst his was darker than some folks appreciated on occasion.

She emptied the contents of her coat into her lap and it spilled into the foot well, and he gritted his teeth. He hated mess. How could you be methodical and focused, when you were surrounded by chaos? Then another thought distracted him from the irritation building as his truck became cluttered with snacks and junk and soda.

"You did pay for the fuel right? Parker?"

"Of-course I did. Gets taken out of the cashiers pay if they have a drive off on shift."

"How d'you know that?"

"You told Sophie once when she asked why you always carry cash. Gas money you said." She shrugged like it was no big deal. He supposed it wasn't. "Plus I get about ten bucks off you most days you know for snack machine emergencies."

"You steal from me?" For some reason Eliot was shocked, and more than hurt, which was beyond stupid since she was a thief and that's what they did for a day job. He stared out the front screen at the traffic ahead, sourly.

"It's not stealing. It's practice."

He responded with frosty silence, as opposed to the blistering tirade he felt brewing. He growled instead.

"If I asked you for it, you'd give it. So it's not stealing."

He had no choice but to respond to that little bit of Parker logic and turned disbelieving eyes on her.

"Really? Then why not ask Parker?" His sarcastic gruff demand filled the truck and she humphed and turned away from the look she called his "bare hands" face. Like he could kill you with them. easily. He had been amused by the description at the time. For a long moment he thought about turning the truck around and heading back, cutting Hardison off at the airport or packing her onto a plane himself. This was not going well. Nope.

"Because I-" She broke off, and he caught a look on her face he had rarely seen, and usually only when Nate was telling her off. Her cheeks had shaded a delicate pink. Intrigued, he wondered if she would continue, and when she didn't, not that anything she could say could possibly make him view her actions any less than a betrayal of the trust that had been growing between them, he decided, enough, and began to look for a suitable place to spin the wheel and put a stop to this bizarre road trip. She glanced at his hands on the wheel, and guessed his intentions.

"You taking me back?"

He nodded, not quite trusting his voice yet. It was stupid to be so mad at her for being what she was, but damn it, stealing from him? It pissed him off.

"I won't do it any more I swear." She sounded sincere, but Eliot could not control the irrational anger her admission ignited. Seeing a junction up ahead, he prepared to do a 180, checking the mirrors for traffic coming up behind.

"Whatever Parker. You know I thought we were honest with each other, and you can't even admit you stole from me just because you like stealing. I ain't down with that. So yeah, we're going back and-"

"I did it because you are the best practise a lifter can get." He grimaced, not hearing a compliment, but his failure at spotting the damn lifts and that was a problem he would have to address. He could not afford to be lax. Ever.

"Once is enough to prove your skill Parker. Look I get it, you're a thief, I just don't like being a mark."

"You keep your cash in your front right trouser pocket." Bullet fast from her side of the truck. She seemed a million miles away.

"Yeah?" Like that had anything to do with it? Eliot looked over at her quizzically even as he got his feet ready to brake and shift a gear. stupid, but he felt annoyed that she had managed it. He was all about not getting his personal space invaded and getting in others instead. She had made a fool of him, and it stung.

"Always that same pocket."

"Jesus Parker so I'll switch pockets, you tryin' to teach me a lesson? I never even noticed the damn cash missing so-"

"I like lifting from that pocket on you. It's always...warm. You bury the cash deep and I have to get real close to yo-"

The truck came to a screeching halt as Eliot reacted bodily to her little confession, resulting in the truck being sat across a junction and a couple of other cars on the road beeped in response. Eliot glared at the drivers and they stopped, deciding patience was indeed a virtue.

Parker became silent, and Eliot was suddenly very aware that she was a lot closer than he had noted earlier. A lot closer. And had apparently been a lot closer to particular areas of his anatomy on numerous occasions. Having the ability to pass a lie detector test because of his uncanny physical control of all external emotional markers, the emergency braking was an issue for him. Parker's words seemed to burn into his brain as he replayed them over, and he swallowed as he gained control back, and got the truck moving again.

A lift was a lift right? Eliot told himself to chill the fuck out. Parker had no way meant anything more by her description of the lift, certainly not what his dirty mind was suggesting. She couldn't have meant _that, _though his fertile imagination was now insisting she did. She sat quietly in her seat and he could swear she cast a look his way, and if he didn't know how clueless she was about shit like this, he would have called it appraising. Sly even. Not evil sly, but _knowing. _Which proved how much of a dick he was being about her confession, since if Parker was anything, it was not _knowing._ Not, he quickly adjusted his thinking, that there was anything to know. That was just...

He yanked at the volume on the radio, and tried to let the music drown out the direction his thoughts were going in. Because his mind was now re-enacting Parker performing such a lift, darting her hand into his pocket, sliding in down his inner thigh to reach his-cash. To reach his cash. What the hell was going on with him? How could he have not noticed that? Wow, he needed to re evaluate his training cos it was obviously failing. The notion of being viscerally aware of her hand sliding into his pocket made him clench his teeth. Damn him but he was sorry he'd missed it. Rolling In The Deep was playing on the radio, that English chick's song that was all over the place right now. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time, then grew uncomfortable and turned the volume back down again. He stiffened internally when Parker spoke up again.

"So you forgive me? We're still going to the wedding?" Hopeful, and innocent. Man he was a lech, and what a time to be one, so inappropriately, so badly timed, taking her words in a weird way when this was Parker. Parker! Sheesh.

"Sure. But Parker?" She looked him right in the eye as he asked, and he was pleased that his voice was back to its gruff gravel and no longer raging or sharp. "No more lifts on me OK? Just ask."

Since he was becoming his own worst enemy on this trip, he almost thought he saw a flash of something in her eyes. Frustration most likely as she liked to steal did Parker.

"No problem." She acquiesced easily, and smiled brightly at him. Then she leant down and lifted a soda and a juice from the collection of stuff she had ripped from the gas station. She tossed the juice to his lap and he picked up the carton, reading the flavour. Apple.

"Thanks." He managed to undo and insert the straw with one hand and began to suck when she spoke again, her can of soda poised at her mouth for a swig.

"You could always switch up pockets to make it more interesting for me. As long as its your jeans you stash it in though. I like pant pockets best."

Eliot literally had to stop juice squirting painfully from his nose as her words computed. He caught her eyes, all wide and guileless, but burning through his like infra-red lasers and felt something he hadn't felt in a very very long time.

Nervous.

"Parker I don't think you should be practising lifts on me at all." Jesus Christ this was awkward.

"If you want." She shrugged casually, and he narrowed his eyes.

"I do." Man he was not dealing well with this he decided, downing the juice like it was a restorative nectar. He was getting paranoid about his and Parker's relationship because of the Hardison thing. The dynamic was all whacked now, and invisible lines were being drawn, and adhered to but only, it appeared, by him. What was wrong with her and H anyhow? Eliot sure as hell wouldn't let his girlfriend swan off for a weekend with another guy. Then winced at that thought. H trusted him and Parker. No good ragging on the guy for trusting them, that was twisted. He should be able to trust them unconditionally. They were a team for Chrissake.

"Pity. It would be way more rewarding now you know I do it. _Did_ it I mean." A mischievous smile dissolved into serious contemplation as he watched and Parker become wistful about the loss of access to his nether region pockets. Shit. He glanced at the pile of junk in the foot well. Suddenly he understood the need to comfort eat.

"Parker."

"Yes Eliot?" So polite, and crazy (and maybe cunning) like a fox, the little blonde devil invading his truck and head.

"Hand me a friggin' cookie and stop talking."

She passed him one in silence and he bit hard, steering with one hand and grounding the cookie up into dust in his mouth. He was starting to wonder if they'd make it through Connecticut let alone to New York. His truck, now Parker sat in it, had transformed into a mine field of a sort he had no clue how to navigate. He figured silence was the best option. But doubted it would last long, as Parker darted glances his way, her expression unreadable for once. Her phone beeped and she shuffled it from her back pocket to glance at the screen. A couple of minutes after scrutinising the screen, she sighed. Don't ask, don't get involved, stay mute, Eliot warned himself, and clenched the wheel as she piped up.

"Can I ask you a question Eliot?" No. Never again you minx.

"Sure Parker." Why fight it he figured with a mental shrug. Girl was gonna drive him insane anyway.

"If someone puts an x at the end of a message what does it mean?"

Oh double frick and a side of fuck.

"It's a kiss Parker, you know that. I know you know that. You do know that right?"

"Really? I thought it was marking the spelling, which is appalling by the way. C U Soon? Even I can spell that."

"It's text speak. Like shorthand." He strove for patience, though secretly he agreed. He hated all that l8ter crap. "It's a sign of affection that's all."

"Hmmm." She slipped into deep thought, though for all he knew she was planning her next heist or considering the teachings of Buddha. Who could tell with her? He focused on the radio output and the road. Tried to.

"Eliot?"

"Yes Parker?" Warily he responded. He refused to look her way though. Not getting suckered in. No way. Her fingers quick on the cell, made him twitch in his seat, now he had the image and false memory of said fingers rummaging in his pocket.

"Should I put an x on my message? I don't do texts. Is it rude not to if someone does it to you?" She actually sounded concerned about it.

"Do I look like I'm a big texter darlin'? I don't know." Exasperated with the entire thing he frowned at her, and she smiled.

"OK." She hit send. He found that he had a burning need to know if she had put a damn x on her stupid text. The not knowing as she hummed and looked out of the window broke him after two minutes, which should have set off warning bells since he could hold his breath longer than that but he paid it no mind.

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"Did you put a kiss on it or not?"

"Not." The lightening of a weight in his chest was ridiculous and a result of the apple juice and cookie passing down to his gut. Eliot nodded, as if agreeing with himself.

"I figured if I had to ask, I knew already." Sometimes, Eliot thought, looking at his blonde passenger, the thief was wiser than folks gave her credit for. "I'll know when I know."

And that had Eliot feeling weird all over again. He stared at the GPS and cursed. Miles and miles of road to go, and hours and hours of Parker. Crazy ass infuriating sneaky sexy Parker. Hardison's Parker.

"Give me another damn cookie." Parker passed one without comment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. :( **

**I am really enjoying writing this, and appreciate the feedback no end...I am quite excited to see where all this leads myself!**

**Hopefully I do it justice. :)**

Parker thought it was going well. Relatively speaking. After the awkward stealing conversation, which Eliot did not take at all as she had expected, they had given each other some peace, okay, she had given Eliot some peace. Now the sun had all but bled out of the sky, and the sound of the engine and Eliot's humming and quiet singing along to the radio were soothing. She almost wanted to curl up and sleep, but was determined not to. She wanted to match Eliot's stamina. If he could stay awake, so could she. She could ask where they were headed, find out how long this journey would be, but truthfully, she didn't care. It was actually nice not knowing. Her world was geared to plans and thinking five steps ahead. With Eliot at the wheel, and a wedding to attend who knew where, she felt freer than she had in a while. If she needed to know anything major, he would tell her. Since it was a social thing and not work, which she was very very curious about, she allowed herself to relax. She didn't often find herself in a position where she could, so why not? Like anything could happen whilst Eliot was driving. She smiled to herself, pretty sure his bare hands face could stop cars if it had to.

Surreptitiously, she watched him as he drove, one hand at the wheel, the other arm leaning on the open window, his hair whipping across his eyes now and then. He was extremely _masculine_, she decided. But he wasn't a thug. He was smarter than the others gave him credit for, she knew that. Using your body as your weapon did not make you stupid. It pissed her off sometimes when she offered up an opinion or information about a job and she got that look from the team. The _Really_? look, like she was nothing but a human skeleton key to be used at will, no mind of her own. They didn't mean it, she knew that, but still, it was annoying that they were still surprised by her knowledge in other areas. Being a thief was one thing. Being Parker was something else. Parker knew diddly squat about a lot of things, but history, the law, architecture, engineering, geography, jewellery, art, sculpture...yeah she knew enough. The little mental pep talk perked her up and she grinned, feeling quite proud of herself. Not bad considering how she started off. Not bad at all. Plus she was mega rich, which was always an awesome thing to remember if you were feeling down. Not that she was feeling down, she shook her head, frowning. No, she was fine. Totally.

"I should wear a dress to the wedding." The thought popped out as she mused on it, and she plucked her bottom lip in concentration. "But Parker doesn't wear dresses. This is awkward, I'll have to be Alice, so she can pick the dress."

"Parker darlin', only ever think aloud in front of me. Any one else would lock you the hell up." He caught her gaze with his and then looked back to the road with an exasperated but indulgent smile. His warning was welcomed, since tempering her inner and outer voice was not something she did much of, and on reflection, that had sounded weird even to her.

"Deal. What are you wearing?"

"A suit." He shifted just a smidgeon in his seat, and she noted it with interest. It might not be a job, but there was something going on with this wedding. Nothing bad, else he wouldn't risk taking her along, but still, there was something. She'd find out she realised, one way or another. Really no point sweating the small stuff. Eliot in a suit was nothing to sniff at either. He wore glasses with a suit sometimes to complete the con, and Parker always thought of him as Clark when he did that. And just like Kent Junior he whipped off his glasses and then kicked ten shades of hell out of whoever it was had the audacity to mess with him or the team. Belatedly Parker realised her hands were moving, and she had acted out the whole glasses off, bad-ass on thing and tried to become invisible as she retracted her arms quietly. She did not need to look to know that Eliot had caught her and that his expression was one of genuine concern.

"What the hell are ya doin' Parker? Do I need to take you to a hospital because I can do that next town-"

"No! I was just thinking about your Clark Kent glasses." She shrugged in apology and watched Eliot's' expression in fascination. From frowning in sheer what the fuck, he was now trying to stifle an embarrassed grin.

"My what now?"

"Clark Kent glasses. You know," God if she knew, he must, unless he didn't have to watch all the stuff Hardison inflicted on her. Well, she amended, introduced her to. That's better. "You wear them and everyone is all, yo Clark's a geek, then you whip 'em off and Superman their asses to o-bliv-i-on." She felt compelled to enunciate oblivion, so he got her point.

"I guess I never saw it quite that way," he sounded hoarse, and Parker threw him another juice. He wouldn't touch soda. Although, he had drifted down a dark path with those cookies before-he rarely ate stuff he hadn't grown or cooked himself. Parker had a theory that he may have been poisoned. More than once. As he sucked on the straw of his juice, which looked incongruous to say the least, Parker noted a subtle shift of temperature in the trucks interior. Gripping her seat she glanced about, since though it was only fractional, it could be an indicator of well, anything. Someone was always trying to shoot them and bombs were not out of the question either. Looking at Eliot to see if he had noticed, she paused, and re-evaluated the danger. He was blushing. And looking determinedly out the window whilst his skin burned, maybe hoping the air would cool it down. Interesting.

"Don't say a word Parker. Not one word."

"Ever again?" She couldn't help let the query out, alarmed by his order. When he used that particular tone, she imagined most of the civilised world would just agree. In fact it would not surprise her if there were people all over the world still crouched in position and keeping shhh because Eliot had ordered them to at some point. It was a mean thought but it made her smile.

"You can't help it can you? You are genetically designed to be as annoying as hell."

"What did I do? And that is not true at all. I don't annoy Hardison or Sophie or Nate." Well that was totally _not_ true even she knew that, but on reflection, it was Eliot who got irritated the most by her lack of discipline, though that had improved enormously, and in fairness, she did torment him when injured. Hmm. She cocked her head and thought about that. She really did bother him a lot actually. Like poking him, and distracting him, and swiping his stuff. It was a bit cringe worthy when she looked at the over all picture. Like a kid with a crush or something. Weird.

The never want to repeat conversation about their midnight pancakes sprang to mind, and Parker reflected on that too. Hmmm.

"Well they obviously have a higher threshold for crazy than I do." He glanced at her then, and for a moment they both maintained serious faces, before his lips twitched and he couldn't sustain it. The absurd statement had them both laughing. It made her happy, knowing that the banter was still that, because she was taking a lot of what he said seriously lately. Everything he said seemed to have layered meanings, and he was becoming distant which sucked. Out of the whole group, he knew her best. He didn't know that, she figured, but he did. Oh not the miserable details of her past, but the reality of what it had forged within her. It was unsettling how every time she teased him, he refused to react recently, and when she had requested more training in martial arts, since the stuff he had already taught her was a definite plus to her already awesome skill set, he had pretty much refused, saying she had all she needed. Probably worried she would become so proficient his services would not longer be needed she thought snippily. She was a very quick learner after all.

"Have I pissed you off without knowing it?" As always, her inner thinking became public knowledge and she winced, not entirely sure she had wanted to verbalise that particular thought. It was, well, personal. She didn't like tiptoeing around people. Bank vaults, yes. People, no.

"You kidding me? Boston knows when you've pissed me off." True, he was pretty loud. But still, the thought nagged, and she realised he hadn't really given much away with his answer. Tricky Eliot was tricky.

"Are you going to be Eliot at the wedding?" It hardly seemed likely, but his demeanour about this being a social thing had her curious. If she could be Parker, would he be Spencer?

"Just call me Eric."

"So it is a job?"

"No. You know the drill Parker, aliases are par for the course. Don't mean you can't be you beneath the name. Remember I told you how you made a friend, not Alice?"

"Oh yeah. It's hard being friend's with people who don't want to steal on their weekends." Hearing the wistfulness in her own voice, she switched her thinking. "I'll be Alice then, but me really." It was quite an exciting prospect and she grinned, grabbing a snack bar as she planned what she would be like at the wedding. Happy and charming and she would not, under any circumstances say the bridesmaids look fat. Even if they did. Maybe she could practice blending in like Sophie tried to teach her to. It would be a learning experience. Excellent, she liked those. She was the best, and that took work. So what if her spare time was spent honing her skills? If you got lazy, you got beat. And that was not something she was prepared to be. Ever again.

Companionable silence filled the truck between them then, and she settled in her seat, reminded of the midnight snack sessions at his place. She undid her ponytail since it was making leaning back a bit difficult and curled her feet up beneath her. Eliot's had sofa's which she preferred to her own single bed set up. Plus she had installed a rotating infra red laser system to surround her bed now, and just getting in and out of her bed was work. Which was good, but sometimes, after a tough gig, it needed building up to. It pleased her that she had the latest tech, though Hardison would probably not entirely understand why she had installed it. Why make work for yourself? He was epic smart, but in a way, hacking was a way of doing the work without doing the work. He wrote so many programmes that each time he cracked a new system or created a new fix, every job on his end got slicker and slicker. Which was awesome. But her role wasn't like that. She had to physically adapt to each new job, and since the systems were based on random rhythms in order to remain secure, she needed to keep up. There were always new safes to crack too, and they weren't all hackable. She was as nimble in body as he was in mind she realised, pleased with herself for the thought. Then diverted her mind from Hardison because she was a little tender on the subject. She liked him a lot. Didn't like it when he got close to other people, and it made her feel nice when he complimented her. She had never had a guy like him be so attentive before, so caring. He was a good guy. Just like Eliot said. But she didn't associate those feelings with sex. And naive as she could be, she was pretty sure sex was a factor in relationships. So she stopped thinking about it, because it was weird.

Eliot was lost in thought as she watched him, and she wondered who he was thinking about. She wondered if he stressed about such things, and then decided probably not. Sophie had joked with him once that he didn't have a love life, he had a sex life, and he had grinned in response, as if to say, and the problem with that is..? Curious, Parker began to form an idea that maybe he had it right. She had slept with men before. Not many. But she knew what sex was about. It felt like she was tainting her and Hardison's relationship by bringing it into the equation and that made her uncomfortable. Maybe love and sex were supposed to be separate.

Taylor Swifts song, The Story Of Us came on the radio and Eliot flicked his eyes at her quick before turning it up a touch. Like she wouldn't notice. Huh. A knot in her chest made her cross her arms in order to ease it.

Parker had an irrational hatred of Taylor Swift. The sound of her voice made her teeth ache. Eliot was tapping the steering wheel, and as she listened, he was singing the song. Seriously singing the damn chorus in his low smoky voice that she liked. And the words were somehow a reflection of all the things she was thinking about their friendship, and the awkward shift it had taken recently. Damn that Taylor Swift, damn her to hell, Parker cursed mentally. She was a freakin' mind reader. Parker had never minded the country singer before, well, she didn't really pay attention to most things other folks did. But then Eliot had gotten a call about doing some private security at a gig in Memphis, and had flown off for four whole days. Sophie and Hardison had spent the entire time watching Bodyguard and informing Parker of all the similarities between Costner and Eliot and Whitney and Taylor. Yeah right. Stupid film, that was as improbable as...well, damn, being part of this crew had thrown a whole lot of improbable scenarios under the bus these past few years. Impossible was a word they smirked at.

Then he had returned and wore a cowboy hat for a week and done nothing but grin like an idiot whenever they asked about Taylor Mind Reader Swift, and gave the gang CDs as presents and just been insufferable about it all. Parker had melted her CD in Eliot's microwave. Talented. That's all they kept sayin', she was talented and so talented...Parker realised she was doing her mocking face and muttering talented over and over in a stupid voice, but couldn't hold it in. Eliot caught the tail end and she could see from his furrowed brow he was about to ask if she needed a hospital again and well enough damn it. Taylor sang The End, and Parker decided it was.

She yanked the stereo from the dash and threw it out the window, then sat back with her arms folded, just a little bit breathless as realisation hit, and with it, a wobbly feeling of dread over Eliot's reaction.

The loudest silence she ever heard filled the truck, beating Taylor's for sure she thought bitchily, and she was sure she could hear Eliot's rage in his veins, thundering up to greet her like lava from a volcano. He was prone to eruptions of Pompeii proportions. She told herself not to panic, but when he calmly indicated left, and pulled of the main highway, she was scared. Not that he would hurt her, that was dumb, but that he was going to finally stop putting up with her crazy. That was terrifying.

He parked up, and sat quiet for a minute, gathering his thoughts. She knew that's what he was doing because he had that pinched look on his face like when he solved the problem of how to take down six guys simultaneously and usually it was an expression she found comforting. Now it was in relation to her being the problem, not so much.

Without saying a word, he took the keys, climbed out of the truck and stalked across the car park to a diner she hadn't even noticed looming over them.

Parker watched his back vanish through the doors and told herself to wait. He'd cool off, get his head right and come back. But through the glass windows of the diner she saw him take a booth, and pick up a menu, a perky brunette smiling at him as she took his order. She willed him to turn so she could gauge his mood. He purposefully avoided looking out to the car park. To her. Well shit Parker, what the hell did you do that for? What on earth could she say to get him to forgive her now? She glanced at the rest of the car park, noting all the rigs pulled in for an evening meal, and knew, without doubt, stealing a radio from them would totally not get Eliot back on side. Crappola.

She got out of the truck, and wondered what to do. Then realised, and cursed herself all over.

One last glance at Eliot, to check he was there, which he was, as was the waitress because apparently the notion of fast food was beyond her, and she left the car park. Taylor damn Swift, this is entirely your fault, she thought. Then bit her lip, since she had said it out loud going on the looks of a couple walking into the diner off the street. Blast it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Thanks so much for reading!**

Thirty five minutes later, Parker made it back to the car park. The stereo hadn't been that far away, but she had circled back three times before finding the damn thing in a field off the highway. Stupid upper arm strength. It was getting dark now, and she was as relieved as she was anxious when the lights of the diner shone up ahead. Shoving her hair from her face and feeling sweaty, she imagined how good a cold beer would be. Sighing with exertion, she picked up the pace and jumped when Eliot stepped into the path from God knows where. Seriously she had no clue.

"Did you just camouflage yourself as pavement?" She spun around trying to locate his hiding place and then stilled as he advanced. Not pleased. He was hedgehog spiky and very very not pleased.

Having practised her apology, she threw herself into it, shoving the rescued stereo up in front of her.

"I have impulse control issues and I am sorry." He was so close that she could hear his inner growl. Thinking, screw it, she flung her arms about him too, the stereo over his shoulder as he stepped in. Then he froze. He always froze, so that wasn't unusual. What was unusual was his heart rate. Interesting. She may have actually achieved the heart attack the team constantly insisted she was about to cause in all of them. Unsure of the whole hugging thing anyway, and frankly, her own heart jacking a little too, she began to move, only for his hand to cup her head lightly as he bent down to her ear. A rush not at all unlike adrenalin shot down her spine, and an internal free-fall began, which was extremely disturbing. His hand remained light, but firm and she stopped trying to move. Her reward was a terse "Parker" in her ear.

"I have impulse control issues and I'm sorry." Repeat till it sticks she decided, whilst starting to get a little warm. Eliot really was a force to be reckoned with after all.

"Do you know how many people disappear off this highway a year Parker?"

She shook her head mutely. His hand rubbed the back of her head as a result.

"It's a worryingly high number. I have no idea why the authorities have not installed a better lighting system or pay phones at every- never mind. Point is Parker, that most folks travel highways in cars. Do you know what they call a woman walking along a highway after dark?"

"No." He was quite serious about this she thought, and felt a little bad for getting a buzz off his proximity. Bad thief.

"Jane Doe, Parker. They call her Jane Doe six months later when they find her." Wow he was effective when focussed. Now she was consumed with guilt and felt stupid for being so lapse in her judgement.

"I got the stereo." She waved it over his shoulder, and it seemed to jostle him from the intent concentration he was eye-balling her with. He let her head go, and stepped away, and she dragged the stereo to her chest. She forced herself to meet his eyes, and for a long second neither spoke.

A car horn blared as it left the car park and she glanced at the diner, craving pancakes. Craving something. Eliot had spoken to her at least. Sure it was warning about being serial killer bait, but this was Eliot. That had forgiveness all over it. He was mad, but about her safety now, which was a much better position for her to work with.

"Dinner's ready." He issued the words like bullets he begrudged shooting, and span on his heel toward the diner.

Okay then. She followed, wondering how long it would take for the slow ass brunette to get around to serving her now she was Eliot's dining partner. Women were weird like that. Got mad at strangers for irrational reasons. Sophie was always berating women because of Nate. Though to be fair she yelled at him a lot too. So it ended up even. Mostly they yelled a lot. If that was a relationship with sex and love trying to co habit, Parker figured she was better off without.

Inside, she scooted to the booth Eliot was sat in, sliding on the red plastic seating opposite. A plate of pancakes sat on her side, and he was already eating what looked like steak on his. So they were for her? Surprised, she became suspicious and placed the stereo on the table beside the plate. It was the cover really, but you know, had all the important bits on it, which thankfully were all in place.

"Eat." He barked between mouthfuls.

"Did you put razor blades in it?" She watched him closely, but he didn't look up as he replied.

"Yes Parker, I asked for the ripped throat special. Com'on, just eat your food."

The clock above the counter was showing eight thirty. For the first time she considered asking where they were going, if only to know how long she had to be quiet for, since the whole talking thing was not working. Well, she corrected on reflection, it wasn't the talking that had made her go postal on the stereo. Maybe talking wasn't the problem. Whatever it was, she wanted to know how much longer she had to endure it. Except, asking felt like she was implying that she didn't want to be in the truck, and that wasn't true, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Eliot was tough as houses but took the team dynamic seriously. He still hadn't forgiven Sophie over the whole David thing. Not the having it, but that she had apologised to him last. It mattered to him. Or his ego, which ever. Personally Parker knew why she had saved him till last, I mean, he was the loyalist of the group. So apologising for betraying the team would be hard going with his cold eyes watching. Weighing up her need to know and how it would sound, she chose pancakes instead.

"We need a few rules."

"Rules?" She managed to swallow just before the word popped out, but it was close. The pancakes couldn't have been sat here long, they were still hot. She wondered if Eliot knew magic.

"That's right. The road trip rules."

Taking a mouthful of the soda he had ordered her, she nodded sagely.

"Oh those. Yeah. I hear ya."

"One: No messing with my stereo." She nodded. Like she would try that again? Huh. Dude was crazy.

"Two: You go to sleep now, and we'll switch in a few hours."

"You'll let me drive?"

"Three: We do not, I repeat do not, talk about anything personal. I am not a therapist, and would need one after, so no. "

"You'll let me drive?" It made her proud. He wasn't that impressed with her getaway skills on a daily basis. She drove to the store like half the ATF were after her, but only in the secret hopes she would be the breaking news story that cut into programming one day. The glory! Obviously she'd get away clean. Those amateur whack jobs were giving real bad ass driving a bad name.

"I swear to God Parker if my truck ends up on the news because of you-"

"How d'you know that?" Truly shocked she leant forward, and he laughed, putting his fork on his plate and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Nobody knows that." It was a secret ambition. Secret.

"Parker why would someone behind the wheel be looking up? You look for those damn helicopters the way other people look for change in their pockets, all excited then deflated when you come up empty."

"I'm just being security conscious." She continued with her pancakes, disturbed by his mind voodoo.

"Really? You have a tell Parker. When you are disappointed you have a tell. Don't kid a kidder darlin'." Now he looked smug, but lets face it she thought, he had every right to be. Stupid tell. she really needed to get on that.

"What's my tell?" He raised an eyebrow at her, never divulging that little fact and she wanted to growl herself.

"Four:-"

"There's a four? Eliot I'm gonna need this laminating, I can't remember all this-"

"Four," he carried on ignoring her outburst," we do not steal on the trip."

"Why?" That stumped her. What if they needed something? Her nerves stretched.

"Why? Parker, we don't need to. Why would we?"

"Well, because, you know, if anything-Eliot I am a thief. I already know I could clean this place out in thirty seconds." His face paled, but not from awe. "Not that I would," she added hurriedly, not liking that look. It hurt somewhere uncomfortably and unfamiliarly deep.

"Darlin', you are not just a thief. You are more than what you do, though in our cases, one informs the other I'll give you that." His tone became weary and he ran his hand over his face. "We're perilously close to breaking Rule Three here Parker."

"Right." She chewed her lip, finished with the pancakes. "Thanks for not leaving me behind and getting me pancakes." She said it thoughtlessly, since she was mulling his rules. She was pretty sure she could do three, but the fourth was a bit strange to think about. It occurred to her that she stole a lot. All entirely necessary of-course. Maybe if there was no need, she wouldn't miss it anyhow. That made sense.

"Parker." Lost in thought, she hmm'd, looking into the forecourt, and wishing people didn't make it so easy to steal from them. There were about five mobiles, four wallets and six rigs he could whisk away without breaking a sweat out there right now. Not that she needed them.

"Parker." He used the voice and she whipped her head around, annoyed that he interrupted her casing. Appraising. Oh crap.

"What?" She hissed, feeling exposed, what with his mind voodoo and laser eyes.

"I would never leave you behind."

"Sure, I know." She turned back to the forecourt, only to have him interrupt again.

"Parker." Insistent now, like he was mad.

"What?" Now she was irritated, and felt like people were watching. Oh God was this a scene? Sophie would be horrified and proud all at once.

"I would never leave you behind." He spelt each word out, and seemed to want an acknowledgement that she understood. She thought she had, but obviously not. Had she offended him with that comment? She hadn't meant-oh man, this was hard. Dealing with people was hard.

"Eliot I know. I didn't mean anything by it, I just liked my pancakes."

"As long as we're clear."As mud, she thought, frustratedly. Of-course he wouldn't leave her behind, any of them. The fact he felt the need to make the point showed a lack of understanding very unlike him. Did he really think the team didn't know how much he had their backs?

"Pretty sure this is a violation of rule three there boss," she used her new southern drawl, that still gave her a kick when it worked. It made him smile and tip his head at her.

"Touché. Com'on, we need to drive through New York, which sucks ass. so we better get going."

"Are you kidding me?" Parker turned and looked at the waitress picking up the cash Eliot laid on the table for the meals. She grabbed the woman's wrist, feeling frantic. "Is he kidding me? I can't tell. Is he?"

Eliot smiled, and she knew it was because she was using his line. So freakin' what. It applied.

"Problem Parker?" He hefted the stereo, and held it, watching her as he waited for her to stand. The waitress snatched her hand away and smiled at her like was a confused child. Eliot slipped her another note, probably to stop her calling the white jackets.

Fuming, she slid from the booth and stalked out. Eliot kept a few paces back but she had the door open the instant he unlocked the vehicle. The floodlit car park was not conducive to the grisly murder she wanted to commit.

Eliot let her simmer, and they started back on the road trip to hell. Hell. Parker could not believe he would be so, so, _mean._ He knew it too, she was sure of it. The grin he was failing at hiding felt like brand on her skin. Bastard.

"You think it's funny Eliot? Hadeehaha."

"No idea what you are talking about darlin'." Liar. Big coconut smelling hair liar.

"Oh really? You make me promise not to steal on this stupid trip _before _telling me we are going through New York? Happy coincidence? I think not Mr Spencer."

"Ah," acting surprised, pah, she doubted it. "What's the big freakin' deal? The collections in the museums there get moved anyway, you probably robbed half the-"

"Not the art Eliot. Something better. So much better." He waited, cocking a brow at her in curiosity.

"What then Parker? What's got you all het up?" Het up? _Het up?_She wanted to respond to that but temper would have gotten the better of her and the stereo had only just been put back together.

"Tiffany's Eliot. It's on my bucket list."

"Seriously Parker? You have crimes on your bucket list? That is five miles of crazy right there. Right there."

"Well what's on your bucket list?"

"Nothin'. I did it all. Now I get to do it all again." He grinned and she couldn't help laugh at his cockiness. Then she remembered Tiffany's. All the pretty pretty things. It had never been the thing to just rob jewellers. Art works and historical items got ordered and traded and never really owned by anyone, hence the chess game with them. A business like that had never been a legitimate target other than greed. And banks were better for that. No Tiffany's was all about the sparkly things she had so long secretly yearned for. Man just imagine her Christmas tree if she could loot that place. It gave her honest to God chills.

"I can not believe you are taking this from me." He reacted with a throw of a hand in the air in surrender. He was all stormy and crackly and it bugged the hell out of her.

"I can't believe you thought you could crack Tiffany's on the fly." Then he caught her guilty expression and swore. "You already have a plan don't you?"

"Yeah," she nodded, thinking he was adorable. "I have plans for breaking into everywhere Eliot. The I am a thief thing? Not just a story." Her voice became a whisper at the end and she almost wanted to pat his cheek, but stopped herself. Deciding that no words were going to help ease her pain, she curled up in her seat, head facing the window, though nothing was visible in the dark but shapes. May as well sleep now. She would have her shift soon. Even the thought of driving made her sour. A cushion slipped its way beneath her head and she lifted to give it access, then a few moments later a blanket covered her. Warmed by the act despite her anger, she croaked "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Sweet dreams Parker."

"Whatever, dream stealer." Then she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Though between Eliot's annoying crackly heat and the lure of Tiffany's calling her, it wasn't easy. At all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Thanks to Mercedes (d'oh)-hopefully you'll know what for when you read lol. **

**Removed because it was naughty. :P (love them all honest!)  
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**Any errors I apologise, gone word blind today! **

**Thanks for the feedback, you lot rock. :)**

Eliot let the scenery calm his mind. It was dark, but houses were lit, porch lights on and neon signs glowed with the promise of vacant rooms at the roadside motels and all night service at the gas stations. He enjoyed driving at night. There was something about the world being asleep, well, most of it, and him being awake that spoke to the protector in him. He felt like he was guarding the innocent as they went about ending their day, putting kids to sleep, paying the bills, watching late night talk shows discussing shit they knew next to nothing about and he unfortunately did; it reassured the side of him that saw evil when he closed his eyes.

There were good honest folks in the world just trying to do right by their kin, and it soothed the part of him that had once thought that a lie. He had allowed himself to forget the every day good guys, so broken as he had been once by the things they knew nothing of in far flung places and done in their name. Now, he was glad they weren't tainted with it. Glad it didn't touch their lives, because honestly, the weight of the world and its problems were crippling, and he knew that first hand, since he had tried to fix it single handed once upon a time in an ill fated shot at redemption. He learnt the hard way that it didn't work like that. Every good deed you did didn't erase a bad one. Didn't stop the nightmares. So now, he consciously appreciated the battles they fought, which were no less hard just because they were on an individual basis. The economy was making the fight for survival at home a tough job, and he admired the strength of communities demolished by foreclosures and bankruptcy. They held firm and stood together, still gathering on a Friday night to support the kids they hoped would be spared the same heartbreak and humiliation.

"Go Colonials," he murmured, as he saw a banner trailing from a car full of college kids cruising by, heading off back toward Danbury. Did his heart good, seeing shit like that. Win or lose, you support your team, through it all. It made you family. He glanced at Parker. She had slumped back around so her face was toward him, her legs stretched out as she fidgeted in her sleep so her feet balanced on the dash. The urge to remove them had faded after a few minutes of her peaceful face and even breathing had convinced him not to be an ass. Why disturb her? Wasn't often she looked so angelic.

He refused to acknowledge that lie, since she always looked angelic till she opened her mouth and the devil came out. Parker was not typical, that was for sure. By any standard. Thinking about family had an uncanny knack of turning his thoughts to her lately. Shit, most things had a Parker variant that made his mind wander.

She was completely contradictory as a human being, sharp as steel and gleeful about Santa. Ate like a horse, slim as a reed. Averse to authority, immensely disciplined in her craft. Baffled by people, most willing to help. Creative, yet scientific in approach too. That tin foil thing H had told him about during the David gig, that was cool. Just a couple of weeks earlier her and Hardison had a spat about her ability to break into a building they were casing and she had insisted she could do it without his help and backwards. Cue a running backward handstand that saw her swing herself by her heels into a ventilation shaft and wink as she vanished from view. Eliot grinned. Girl had sweet skills no doubt about it. He appreciated her confidence in her ability. The Steranko thing was her bug bear, but as he had told her after, she beat it one way or the other. The result was a result. He understood her attitude because he shared it. Faith in your own abilities was sometimes all you had when you had no one else to come save you. It bothered him some to think she ever had to learn that she was her best and most reliable weapon, but he was glad she had. Some folks didn't have that core to work with, and damn broke under pressure. Not their fault. Bad shit is bad shit. He was just happy as hell she survived else he never would have met her. Woah! He checked his thinking, and put the mental brakes on. Enough of thinking warm fuzzy crap about the thief. Enough already.

She looked up to him like a brother, at least the whole team thought she did. Him too most times. But now and then, when they were in the middle of a high octane situation, or even just ripping it out of the team, their eyes met and he saw the woman stare back. The woman who saw him as a man not just the muscle. Not just Eliot, big brother protector. And damn it they were _not_ related, so why did it feel so wrong that such a connection might exist? Why had he pushed her away recently and caused a troubled expression to mar her brow?

Hardison. Sweet lovable Hardison with his fast talk and big eyes that watched her like a love sick puppy. Shit.

Being close to people was a dirty business he decided, berating himself for having to relearn a lesson he had already passed once with flying colours.

Glancing at the tank, he figured a top up before hitting the 684 to New York made sense. Just thinking about New York made his gut hurt. Last time he had been there a lot of terrible things had happened and the place still held a shadow of that for him. For a lot of people. But getting morose wouldn't help him or his passenger, so he shrugged off the black cloud and cruised into the next gas station, raising a hand at the guy at the counter behind the glass as he turned in. The kid looked out of it and shook his head. Half asleep? Eliot glanced at his dash for the time. Middle of the night maybe, but a Friday night at ten? Nah. Taking in the deserted forecourt, and the fields surrounding the station, the last pit stop for a ways, his spider senses snapped to high alert. Damn that Hardison getting him to watch those movies! Spider senses? He was a grown man for -his thoughts stopped abruptly as a shadow moved in the store behind the glass. Eliot stopped thinking. He started doing.

He span the truck as he stopped, at an angle right by the service hatch. Parker had already been slipped down in her seat and covered in the blanket. She wouldn't be seen. And the bullet proof glass and panelling he had kitted it out with that Nate called overkill seemed pretty neat right about now. Over kill my ass he thought, before shoving the told you so's to Nate away to be thrown at him later. Or if ever. This kind of robbery sucked. Amateurs, crack-heads, local thugs-the worst class of criminal, the unpredictable kind. The kid at the till was terrified, and with good reason. From the shadow cast on the far wall, Eliot could tell there were two of them armed with automatic rifles. It was a very distinctive shadow.

Taking a deep breath, he swung out of his seat and into the cool night air and began to sway as he closed the door, and set off the locking system with the key in his pocket. Parker wasn't an idiot she could hot wire it if shit went bad.

"Hey kid, I gots to go-gimme the key would ya?" He clutched at his crotch as he weaved toward the window, eyeing the size of the service hatch and the distance between the shadows in the store and the doors. The kid shook his head, and starting to call out.

"Sorry mister, its all locked up, you gotta go to-"

"Now look boy," he slurred, despairing at the non perplex hatch, "when a man's gotta go, he's got-to- go. Ya feel me? I ain't pissin' in my damn truck boy issa rental. Bassards took a deposit an' ev'rythin'." The kid got told to get rid of him, he was sure, since he went quiet then nodded meekly at him before picking up a key by the till.

"Okay mister, I don't want no trouble. Key's right here and the bathrooms out back."

Eliot approached the hatch still holding his crotch and pushing the hair from his eyes. A shovel in the fire reg sand bucket made its way into his hand as he approached close enough that they could not see his lower body. He hoped the kid would pay attention. He hated this kinda thing, but damn it how could he drive away? Nate and his freakin' morals and principles were getting under his skin, and though half of him said leave, the other half said stay. The stay half won.

"Here you go mister." The kid dropped the key into the hatch and Eliot caught his hand beneath the glass. The kid looked up at him panicked with huge bloodshot eyes where fear had turned to tears and Eliot felt for him. Guns had a way of making small fuckers break others spirits. He hated that. Buy a gun and the world was yours right? Hell the fuck no.

"Duck." He said it low and straight and experience dictated his order would be followed. He backed the command up with his expression that turned to stone under the kids gaze, and a split of eyes widening was all he saw before the spiky haired do vanished behind the counter. Eliot swung the shovel and as the glass cracked because it wasn't safety issue which pissed him the hell off, he launched himself onto the hatch and kicked the glass in, before diving in behind the counter in a tumble of glass and speed.

The kid had covered his head and scrambled to the far corner of the counter and whimpered when Eliot landed to crouch beside him.

"Oh God Oh God Oh-"

"Shut up. Stay down." The kid nodded and gasped back the last God, and Eliot nodded, satisfied. Having issued his standard rules for most passers by, he listened to the torrent of noise his entrance had evoked. The gun toting scum bags were not happy. They let rip and bullets rained on the counter, smashing the glass that held the smokes. The kid cringed but when pinned by Eliot again, bit his lip.

Eliot decided enough already, and reached up, glancing at the walls, locating the cowards by the shadows stretching and moving on the wall. He vaulted the counter and got to work.

Turned out they were dumb fucks who stuck together, halving his problem immediately. Shock played a part to, since no one expects you to take on a gun. Like it makes you invincible. Time and again Eliot proved those who thought that wrong and he set about doing so again. With his fists.

Three minutes later, the shit heads were disarmed and tied up in the back office, where he had found a girl, the kids girlfriend who had snuck in to spend some time with him studying for finals. The high school books on the desk and her terror at being discovered by either the shooters or her parents was palpable. Idiot kids. Rather get shot than let your mom know you were dating? Insanity. He wiped the security tape and glared at them both as they watched, huddled together. He locked the office up and threw the kid the key.

"I suggest you kids call your folks and call it a night now." He watched the boy dial, arms folded, a little blood on his arm from a cut sustained jumping through the glass. "Now call the police." The kid complied. "Now wait outside the doors till they show. Right by the door. Go'on."

He made to leave, when the kid called him with a shaky voice.

"Hey mister? The boss'll want your name for the broken glass, he's real particular about-"

Eliot turned on the kid and stared at him.

"Seriously kid? Know what? You're welcome. And I ain't breaking Rule Four because of your whiny ass, so I'm taking this-" He stalked to the cereal aisle and grabbed a box of Parker's favourite cereal, utterly infuriated. "And you're payin' as a thank you, so hop to it spiky."

The boy jumped and nodded, but not moving.

"I need to see you do it. Rule Four kid. Com'on."

The boy scrambled in his pants pocket and pulled out a couple of bucks to make the sale.

Eliot raised the box in a wave at them both.

"Why that was mighty generous of you sport. Night y'all." He climbed back into his truck after shaking of the small pieces of glass all over him, and muttered to himself about ungrateful whiny ass bitch boys grimly. Should have left he decided. Now he was cut and his shirt ruined. Friggin' idiots the lot of them.

"Hey Eliot?" Parker's soft query pulled him from the tirade distractedly.

"What?"

"Leave me in a locked truck whilst you go play Batman again and I will taser you to death. To death. To. Death." Jesus. He swung about to see her fully upright and mad as hell, eyes bright and fringe mussed up.

"Thought you were sleepin'."

"Ever heard the expression _cat nap_ Eliot?" She was staring out the windscreen and he began to wiggle, finding glass embedded in the creases of his jeans. Damn.

"Yeah."

"Ever heard the expression cat _burglar_ Eliot?" Okay she was using the voice she used whenever she had to give money back and she didn't want to. Which was often, but chilling every time.

"Yeah but see I was just-"

"Give me my cereal." She stared out front still, and he dumped the box in her hand."We need to switch plates on this thing and you have glass in your hair." She ripped open the box and ate a handful of crunchy crap he could never quite work out if it was nuts or flakes or whatever. A whole mess of crunch anyhow. Plucking at his shirt he nodded in agreement and sighed.

"This shit never happens when I go fishin' ya know," he grumbled, looking for a lay by to swap plates. Parker tossed him a cookie and he caught it by lifting a hand off the wheel for a sec.

Looking at it, he looked back at her. She had her feet on the dash, a cereal box in her lap and a serene light in her eyes. She turned to catch him staring and shrugged at him, before stuffing another handful of cereal in her mouth.

Screw it. He bit the cookie. He was going to hell anyway.

Parker ate on auto pilot. She was seething. And not entirely sure what about. Theoretically, this was what he did. Eliot was alone a lot on jobs, sent off like a lone wolf to dispatch all comers. She worried in a way then. but in a work way, same as she worried about every body. And he was always so tough. He could defeat most anything put in his way. So she gave him his due and didn't fuss, just like she didn't when the others had a job to do. Sure she was nursing Hardison through lifting, but that wasn't the same as fussing. It was teaching. This little hold up, was not in a work context. He was not _their_ hitter. _They_ did not have his back. He should not have left her in the truck. it made her light headed thinking about it. The sugary cereal helped. And that! I mean, she chewed viciously, perplexed and irritable, how could she be mad as hell when the guy just took on two gun wielding robbers saved a couple of teenagers and bought her cereal? How was that remotely fair? Just because he was tougher than her did not make her a soft touch, she declared inwardly, as she dove for more cereal. You don't buy a person with junk food. Uh uh.

The truck stopped and she dumped the box on the dash, daring him to complain, before jumping from the passenger seat on the sodden ground. It had rained recently. Hmm. She liked it when you drove into a rain-cloud. Weather was fast, and untameable. Wild and energetic. She figured one day when she had stolen all she could steal, she would become a storm chaser and steal a tornado. If it could be done, by God she'd do it. The spare plates were in the trunk under the floor of the boot, and she hummed whilst she worked at switching them out, annoyed beyond measure by the song stuck in her head. Done, she closed up the trunk and grabbed a small brush and made her way round to Eliot's side of the truck to help get rid of the glass in the foot-well.

She stopped when she saw him sat on his seat with the door open, legs stretched out and feet planted on the ground, sewing up his arm, which was bleeding far worse than she had realised because of the black shirt. That was not on his body any more. Not covering his naked torso.

He glanced up through a fall of hair and she reached out quick and tucked it behind his ear for him since his hands were a little busy stitching up his wound. Self inflicted she told herself. No sympathy here. Nuh-uh. She hovered nearby.

"Why aren't you wearing a vest?" Stupid mouth. Stupid stupid mouth.

"'Scuse me?" His gaze narrowed and she shifted foot to foot. Then stilled, not sure why she was doing it.

"You normally have a vest on. A wife beater. Not that you would. Are. I mean it's a weird name for a piece of clothing when you think about it." Good God she would rather be arrested than be subject to the intense appraisal he was currently making with knowing eyes.

"You okay Parker?" He asked the question but his eyes were supplying the answer and Parker swallowed as his chest heaved. For a bizarre instant of clarity she wondered if he was being cruel or kind. Because it felt like both. That level of intimacy and confession made her want to cartwheel out of sight but she remained where she stood. This was, interesting.

"Fine." She nodded mechanically, even as her eyes strayed. and got busted big time if his smirk was to be believed. Arrogant foolhardy brave stupid man. "I was just thinking..." she stepped up close and stood between his knees, quite suddenly aware of a whole arsenal of weapons she had yet to master the art of. No time like the present to test them out.

"Parker what the hell-" He could not have sounded more strained and she took advantage of his wounded state to lean just a bit too close, as his hand was still threading his arm.

"Eliot ssh!I'm trying to say something." This close, his heat and chest wall hummed at her and she found herself thoroughly enjoying this kind of tease. It was...new. Leaning in again, and shifting her legs so his inner thighs were touching the outside of hers where she stood between his knees, she brushed the glass she had spotted from his hair and almost stopped when she saw his eyes close, unsure suddenly. A current ran between them that had elevated beyond the moment and the joking. The words tumbled from her in a squeak. And she never ever squeaked. Except at holidays.

"You should slow down on the cookies. You don't wanna get fat."

His eyes snapped open and caught hers and she cursed herself for not moving away quicker, sure he was going to explode at her in indignant fury. But he didn't. Instead his face broke into a slow slow smile that made her stomach curl. And then he stood, forcing her back a few paces, and stretched his arms as he tied off the thread. Tautening his chest. His very naked, not at all fat, chest.

"Why thank you Parker." He grinned that slow maddening way again and she was confused. She was supposed to be teasing him right? But then he ran a hand down his chest, as if yawning, and watched her follow his hand, his gaze burning her eyelids as her eyes dipped. "It's good to know you are so concerned about my..._health._"

Hot inside and out, Parker refused to let him know he had won, and shrugged, smiling brightly at him. This was not over. He wouldn't win this game. If it was a game. The thought made her pause. If not then what? She was all loose and hot and he was watching her closely, concern in his eyes taking the place of the warm secretive look of an instant before. It bugged her. Did he think her fragile? Not able to handle his brand of teasing? Well she could damn it. She paced forward and was about to-

Her phone chimed and the scene froze, then broke, the heat of it melting away like rain. Eliot snapped from his reverie and took the brush from her numb hand, turning away, all business and focused on ridding the glass from the foot well and his jeans.

Parker yanked out her phone and glanced at the screen.

Oh. Right.

"We should get going. You can drive us to Westchester. Its' a straight shoot down the 684. Wake me up there, I'll take over. Got it?"

She nodded, and watched him put the blanket over the drivers seat before letting her get in. He yanked a tee shirt on to, and she couldn't think of a damn thing to say as he glanced at her.

"We cool?" His voice was deep and soft and understanding about things she knew she didn't comprehend fully yet but was on the cusp of. Parker never knew two words could be so complicated. She nodded and grinned, and he just tipped his head then looked away.

She let him turn the radio up, grateful for the distraction from her muddled thoughts.

**Let me know if you want more peeps! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

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Eliot Spencer was not sleeping. He was resting his eyes, and resisting the urge to glance at the strange thief currently at the wheel. At the start of the trip, he had figured the hardest thing he had to do was to convince Parker not to spill over where they were going, and to talk her into coming along. Turned out she had already copped to the fishing trip lie, and really hadn't asked for much clarification in regards the wedding, not whose it was or where it was being held. So that solved that.

He had not counted on the disturbing new problem that had arisen somewhere off the I-84 past Danbury. Not counted on that at all. It was alarming on so many levels, he wasn't quite ready to process it. Sure, he and Parker had shared looks. Sure, he'd be lying if he didn't admit she was a beautiful girl. But that was all he had allowed it to be. A locked away maybe, never to be explored for so many reasons. At first, her crazy ass ways had made him wary, then smile. Her innocence in general had put the brakes on any attempt at a casual fling just to scratch an itch. Parker didn't play like that. Until tonight. Damn she had all but ignited as she leaned in-between his legs and teased. And it was not a playful big brother tease either. It was a woman playing with a guy, and very nearly winning a very particular kind of game. And it had not been innocent. He wasn't sure whether to be proud she had the balls or terrified that she had discovered a multitude of new ways to torture him. Or scared for her, because she plainly had no idea what she was doing. Once, he might have thought less of her, thinking her sly for pulling that shit when Hardison was across the country playing dress up with strangers. But he knew her. She wasn't that chick. He had watched as awareness cascaded in her eyes, and witnessed the confused frown so fleeting as the teasing had grown intimate. There was no thought just reaction to her actions, and he couldn't condemn her for that. He had almost gotten used to her hugs now, her version of affection was throwing an arm about his and Hardison's neck and squeezing herself between them. It was a massive step from that and cheek kisses to what she had been pulling off back in the lay by. He winced, because if she was that good her first try, then H had no idea what was coming his way. That thought was a dark one, and imagining her teasing H like that stung. A lot. And he had no right to be stung by it.

He lifted an eyelid and watched her as she drove, bopping out of time to the radio. For a girl so smooth in a laser striped vault, she really was not that great a dancer he mused. Though he doubted she ever really got a chance to learn moves like most teens did. All her focus lay elsewhere whilst they were learning how to deal with guys and the secret language only women knew to drive them insane. Though she managed to do that without such skills he realised, albeit in an altogether different fashion. He wondered what she was thinking about, and if she was rattled by what happened, then decided not. Parker was not a worrier by nature. See a problem, work out a solution. Happy go lucky Parker. He'd only ever seen her out of her comfort zone a couple of times, and both were related to her childhood. That pissed him off. She was athletic, brainy and beautiful. Mad as a box of frogs, but still, she could have owned the world if things had gone differently. In a way, he guessed she was owning the world now, one theft at a time. It still didn't seem fair.

Closing his eye as she turned he felt his skin warm, under her scrutiny. He should have admitted being awake he thought, feeling like a dick, not wanting her to see him staring, and now caught in a fake sleeping position. Dumb ass. How old was he anyway? He snapped open his eyes, not willing to be fifteen again and she started, smiling at him faintly. Then she looked back to the road, and if he hadn't known better, he would swear she was anxious. Not that it showed on Parker, she had the best poker face in the business when required. Did she require one now? he wondered, then mocked himself for being a freakin' girl. Seriously, just sewn up a wound sustained saving kids from armed robbers and now he was getting goo goo eyed. Maybe 90 minutes a day wasn't enough sleep any more. Maybe he needed like 120.

"You can sleep Eliot. I know how to drive." She gave him an out and he took it, not caring it wasn't true.

"Yeah right. I saw you reverse into that lane back there when the cops passed. Probably got grit splattered all over my paint job."

"What your truck's bullet proof and not gravel proof?"

"It ain't a freakin' force field Parker! That shit scratches just like any other paint job."

"Huh." He got the tone she used when she had already lost interest. She wasn't much for manners was Parker. He resisted another new urge. The one to throttle the blasé right out of her. The radio was playing some old country stuff and he let his eyes close again, leaning back on the head rest. He tapped his thigh in time to the old McGraw tune, letting himself just be.

"Why didn't you become a rock star Eliot?" Parker's question slipped under his skin.

"Do not mock me Parker. I've had a very trying day." He refused to open his eyes again.

"I'm not mocking I'm asking. Honestly you try and have a regular-"

"I refer you to Rule Three of our arrangement." Not opening them. Ah shit. Opened.

"So it's personal? _Really_?" She glanced at him in surprise. "Huh. I thought personal meant families and secrets and-"

"I think you'll find a lot of things fall under the personal remit for the purposes of this journey."

"Cool." She shrugged nonchalantly, eyes on the road. Eliot wondered when he stopped even trying to be civil. Damn it.

"Never had a taste for it. Just liked playing guitar is all." That should do it. Rock star. Hah. He called her naive, but felt a glow of warmth in his gut anyway. Rock star my ass.

"Now was that so hard?" She corn balled him and grinned his way and he stifled a laugh. Her accents were gettin' good.

"Has Sophie got you doing a British accent yet?" So far Hardison had cracked that one. His English accent messed Eliot up. Lord Huffington Barry Pugh or some shit, whatever it made him chuckle whenever he heard it.

"Nah. She got mad when I practised my Lock Stock on her." Dropping her voice an octave, she carried on,"Oi! Keep your fingers out of my soup!"

Eliot couldn't help grin. At least she managed the one line from that movie without cussin' in it. Accent sucked though.

"What d'you think?" He wasn't expecting to give feedback. Ah hell.

"Well, I think you should keep workin' on it darlin'. Sophie is scary talented with those accents. But she can't jump off a building less you're with her so don't sweat it."

Parker went quiet. He wondered if he should offer her food. Pink rocked out on the radio, singing about a pill. Tune was kinda catchy. They drove on, and Eliot gave up on a reply, going to rest his eyes again.

"Do you think stealing is a talent Eliot?" Jesus what now? He lifted his head and stared at her, hoping she saw his grimace, even from the corner of her eye. This was a lot of talking she was expecting for a guy who was supposed to be sleepin'.

"Whadya mean?" He had no clue. Parker was being Parker. Cryptic curious creature.

"Is it a talent or a skill?"

"Wha'sa difference?" He couldn't discern what she was getting at. And something in that warned him to tread carefully. A conversation with Parker could be more exhausting than navigating land mines in Serbia.

"You can learn a skill. A talent is a gift you just have, special to you. You got singing. Hardison got his knack for programming-"

"Hey that's a skill. And my singing is just nuthin' just-"

"You have a talent stop being un-Eliot like and own it. Hardison's talent is writing programmes, his skills help that talent, but that's like, super smart what he does. The talent came before the skill. You see?"

"Not really." Eliot all but groused at her, thoroughly pissed off with the whole Hardison being super smart comment which pissed him off that he was pissed off about it. Man if he smoked he would be lighting up about now. Fuck. H was a genius. No denying it. And she was still frickin' talkin'.

"And then Sophie, well that is a talent, you said so yourself."

"So what's Nate's talent?"

"Being able to do it all. " She sighed, and slumped in her seat and he ran a hand through his hair, vexed.

"I feel like you're cheatin' Rule Three here Parker."

"Whatever." She ignored him then, and leant one arm on the window frame so she could lean her head on her hand. The picture of fed up.

"Well, stealing isn't exactly a talent." He couldn't lie. Some folks stole using fists and guns and brute strength and it wasn't pretty. She went deadly still and he carried on, not sure where he was headed. "But to be the best like you, well hell yeah you need talents." He thought on it. "Talented athlete, for starters. You can't learn grace Parker. You got it or you ain't."

She looked around at him, an oncoming vehicle lighting her up with its headlights. Her eyes were wide and her smile genuine.

"You think I'm graceful?"

Eliot tugged at his shirt, feeling like the soft fabric was smothering him. How in hell had this started again? Had he not been explicit enough? Shit. Put this thing to bed Eliot he ordered, then mentally eviscerated himself for such an inappropriate analogy.

"Yes Parker. You have a lot of talents, you just put them all together and a thief comes out. So is stealing a talent? No. Are you a talented thief? Yes. Got it now?" Phew, he felt his hands clam up. This was worse than sitting through one of Sophie's plays for crying out loud.

"Thanks Eliot." She grinned at him so happily he figured the clammy hands were worth it, Then hated himself and growled.

"Wake me up at Westchester." He turned over to face the window, his arm sore but manageable even though he was now leaning on it.

"Okay I-"

"That was code for shut up Parker."

Finally she gave him some peace.

* * *

><p>She greeted him with coffee when he woke, poking it through his open window and he lifted his head, bleary eyed, taking the Styrofoam cup automatically.<p>

"Welcome to Westchester." She lifted her arms, as if to say, this is it. All of it. She also looked beyond awake, standing in a brightly lit forecourt of a gas station with a diner attached. Busy. Lots of people.

"Wha's the time?" He pushed hair from his face and took a slug of the steaming brew. It scalded his tongue and tasted like crap, but damn, coffee was coffee.

"Just gone eleven." It felt later to Eliot. He stretched, testing his arm. It was cool, just a little stiff. He had really been out he realised, feeling like he'd slept for hours.

"Any trouble?"

"Like what?" With a baffled shrug, she sipped her coffee and looked at him over the rim.

"With you Parker, could be anythin'. Anythin' at all." Getting all the knots from his muscles he stretched again and popped the door so he could walk a bit. Sleeping was good, but waking up after sucked if you made a truck seat your bed.

"No. No trouble." He knew she was lying. He stared over his shoulder and was about to demand all, when he noticed a few eyeballs on them, so checked himself. No need to draw attention.

"Hold this would ya? I'm going to the-" He whistled. "Stay in the truck." She nodded, and he felt her watching him as she made his may to the mens.

He used the facilities, and whilst washing his hands had a talk with himself in the mirror. It was an enlightening conversation, and he got the message. No more. Do not let this get out of control. Do not make something outta nothing. Hands scrubbed, he slicked his hair and tugged his shirt, then made a face at himself. What was he doin'? Sorting out his damn appearance? Like when had that ever mattered before. Half the time he was a mess on the job, even when in character, since his job involved, well, mess. Idiot, he mouthed at his own reflection, pointing at himself. Freakin' idiot.

He stalked back to the truck, since stomping was not his way no matter how much he could go for some stomping right now, and climbed in the drivers side. He started her up, and they got on the road again.

"So what is it Parker," he asked, taking back his coffee. He felt refreshed at least. She looked like she'd scrubbed up too. Definite perkiness going on with her.

"I don't want to say."

"Parker." A more frustrated intonation of her name was not humanly possible.

"I was listening to the radio and the George Washington Bridge is closed." Oh _man_. "So traffic's all headed to the Holland Tunnel."

"I freakin' hate driving in this damn city!" Eliot let his head fall back against the seat and cussed like a sailor. Parker sat quiet, a thoughtful expression on her face. "What?" He barked the question.

"What time do we need to be where we are going?" Still wouldn't ask where, he thought, stubborn cat.

"About midday. I was hopin' to get there before."

"So how many hours away are we now?" Straight forward enough but he sensed this was not going to be. At all.

"About six, give or take. Why you asking Parker? Makes no damn difference to the bridge being closed. Man," he shook his head, and thumped the wheel in annoyance,"I knew I'd be stuck in traffic. I should have just gotten a damn flight and-"

"So why didn't you?" Parker was genuinely curious.

"Because your boyfriend," yeah he said it, "spies on every one of my aliases, even the ones he ain't supposed to know about. And fishin' don't usually involve flyin'."

"Unless it's fly fishing." He looked at her and she made a face. "What? There is a thing called fly fishing. I saw it on Animal Planet."

"You watch Animal Planet?" Her confession surprised him sufficiently that he ask.

"Er, hello? I need to watch it to know what to do if an animal attacks. Horses aren't the only ones that I don't like." She shuddered in memory and he patted her arm, feeling guilty again.

"You did great though, you really did. You see that Monsters In Me show? That shit is freaky as hell. And you wonder why I grow my own food man." He shook his head, mind filled with images of the last episode he watched, so disgustingly fascinating.

"Yeah. The hookworm was urgh." She shook her head, recalling the details, and Eliot stopped and looked at her, aware he was doing the same. He smiled. She smiled back. Things were cool again.

He drove awhile before her silence rubbed him raw.

"Just spit out your plan Parker, 'cause you have one. I can smell it on you."

He watched as she barely restrained the urge to sniff herself.

"How about we skip the traffic jam and leave early tomorrow instead?"

"Friday night in New York darlin'? The kinda place we could get a room even I don't want to sleep in, we'll just have to sit it out. I'm over it already." Plus he was suspicious as hell she would want to stay in New York. No way was she robbing Tiffany's on this trip. No freakin' way. The station buzzed as a new frequency cut in and he set it again, very aware that she was fidgeting beside him. They were all but through Scarsdale when she finally burst out with it.

"What if I have somewhere we can stay? Even for a couple of hours. Rest, no stress, no cab drivers making you insane-" she had witnessed his ire at a truck driver earlier and it made her look meek at the wheel to his eternal shame-"just an easy night and we leave first thing, nice and refreshed. You don't want to get there and then sleep. It'll be like having jet lag for cars. Car jag."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whatever, I have a place Eliot. Do you want to use it or not?" She sounded oddly nervous and giddy about it. It piqued his curiosity for sure. But he wasn't getting suckered in so easy. No doubt she wanted to con a room and loot Tiffany's. He wouldn't have it on his watch.

"Thanks Parker," he cleared his throat as her disappointment tell flared, "but I think we should just keep going." He looked in his dash for change, hating the stupid city once again. Freakin' toll roads every five minutes. If crestfallen had a face, it would be Parker's. He would not cave though.

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><p>After sitting in traffic on Central Park Avenue for the longest forty minutes of his life, and he was a man well versed in war, he turned to Parker who was watching a couple make out in their car since they had abandoned all hope of using it for its actual purpose ever again.<p>

"Where?" His gruff command was answered instantly. She didn't even look embarrassed at being caught watching the couple. Minx.

"Take the Bronx River Parkway." Muttering to himself, he eased into the right lane and pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and chewed the skin a little. A comfort gnaw.

"I-"

"Not one word darlin'." He was saying that an awful lot he felt like and she was ignoring it. He was sure of it.

"Same to you too." He looked at her, confused, brow furrowed and mouth ready to tell her what he thought of that when, "It's a secret. So you need to keep it. OK?"

Her earnest expression , a one off possibly, had his full attention. Eliot was honest to God flummoxed. And intrigued. He sat up a bit straighter in his seat and glanced at the traffic surrounding them. He weighed it up before looking back at her, direct in the eye so she saw he was being honest.

"I won't tell a soul Parker."

So much for Rule Three.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Uhm, hope this works...have patience peeps, we need a and b to get to c ;)**

Another forty minutes later, during which the truck actually moved, though at a teeth achingly slow pace, and Parker told him to pull up. He looked around, seeing no side street or spaces and felt frustration swelling for the hundredth time this evening.

"Where Parker? On the side-walk?"

"What? No." She looked at him like he was the crazy one. Then compounded the insult with her next action."There" She pointed to the right. Eliot glanced through the windscreen and swore.

"The freakin' Plaza? Are you shittin' me? You had me drive bumper to bumper to pull a con on the Plaza? Sweetheart, I am hanging by a thread here. A freakin' thread." She rolled her eyes, unperturbed by his outburst as always.

"Just pull in grumpy." He looked at her and she looked back, like, what, get to it. Feeling tension in every muscle he muttered as he swung into the entrance. The Plaza loomed above, a bustling hive of activity and wealth even at this late hour. Friday night baby, he thought sourly. Damn New Yorkers everywhere, mobiles stuck to ears and money stamped all over them.

"Parker I ain't happy."

"Are you ever?" She smiled sweetly then climbed out of the truck, slipping a woollen cap on her head and tucking her hair beneath it. Curiosity burned in him, and he growled at the parking attendant, not entirely sure he wanted to get out. Parker stood by the huge doors and tipped her head like he was a stubborn kid refusing to leave a playground. Sighing, he climbed out and gave the well groomed kid his key.

"Don't touch my radio." The kid nodded, and Eliot hauled his and Parker's bag's from the boot before the truck vanished from sight. He stared after it, watching the kid take a right, then turned back to the blonde thief destroying his peace of mind.

"This better be good Parker."

"Just don't act menacing. That won't work here. In fact," she slipped her hand into his and tugged him through the doors before he could formulate a what the hell? "Just be quiet."

Eliot did not like being told to be quiet. He did not like not knowing the play. It was unnatural. And disconcerting. And she was holding his hand and dragging him through the opulent lobby of the Plaza like she owned the joint. Direct to the desk, looking right ahead. Oh man, he had no idea what she was going to try and pull. He checked the lobby for non friendlies, and adjusted the bags and his stance as he clocked at least three lurking at phones and behind newspapers. Deadliest cliche in the world, a hotel lobby he thought, not at all amused. Then understood why she had asked him not to be menacing. He was getting looks back. Shit. He cooled his jets and smiled down at her as they reached the desk, and she looked relieved. She was well aware of the dangers here. Tugging her hand to his side, she squeezed in warning or gratitude he couldn't tell, and relaxed a fraction. He made sure she was covered by his body, as discreetly as he could without throwing her on the very expensive floor and laying on top of her like a human blanket. Oh Parker, he despaired, what the hell are we doin' here?

"Can I help madam?" The brunette at the desk was poised and mannequin like, and a little disdainful as she addressed Parker. The thief was not disturbed at all, but it bugged him a lot. The girl may work at the Plaza, but his little thief could ransack it without breaking a sweat. Not his thief, he corrected. Their thief. The thief. Ah hell.

"I called ahead. There should be a key waiting for me. Ms Pitstop?" _Pitstop_? Eliot managed to stop his eyebrows shooting up and kept schtum. Very aware of every one in the lobbies movements behind them. Tension coiled within him. Then he thought about Parker's words. Called ahead? When? About to ask, since he was feeling handled and not liking it one bit, consequence be damned, he stopped, as the lady's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Of-course Ms Pitstop. Mr Frank explained before he left for the evening. I have your key right here."

Mr Frank? Who the hell was Mr Frank? What in the world was-

"Is he not here then?" Parker's disappointment was evident.

"I'm afraid not ma'am. But he asked that I give you this." The brunette was a lot friendlier all of a sudden Eliot noted suspiciously, and handed Parker a key and an envelope, which she took and slipped inside her jacket lightning fast. Eliot didn't like it.

"And may I have the name of your guest this evening?" She looked at Eliot expectantly, fingers poised on the keyboard of her computer. Before Eliot could speak, Parker interrupted.

"This is Mutley." Mutley? Mutley? The desk jockey barely hid a grin at that, and Eliot stared at Parker who stared back innocently, eyebrows raised, as if daring him to refute it. He smiled sarcastically.

"Of-course." The brunette glanced at Eliot all too knowingly and he planned a whole lot of things he had to say to Parker when they were out of ear shot. A whole lot. Tapping a few keys, the girl nodded, and looked at Parker warmly, taking Eliot off guard. Whatever was going on, and whoever this Frank guy was, it held a great deal of weight with her that's for sure.

"Your suite is prepared, and should you need anything at all, just call down to the front desk and ask for Jenny." She tapped her name badge. "I'll be happy to help."

Parker smiled uncomfortably, nodding, then leant in. "Can I use the service elevator Jenny? Mutley is not a people person." She whispered the last, as if he had some sad affliction, and he bit his inner cheeks to stop from swearing. Jenny nodded, eyeing Eliot like that made total sense.

"Certainly Ms Pitstop. Would you follow me?" Passing her desk duties onto her male counterpart occupying the other side of the desk, she slipped out from behind it, and showed them the way.

The Plaza was a stunning building. Architecturally, and aesthetically. Eliot struggled not to whistle as they strode through the back of the lobby and through a couple of corridors. Everything was gleaming, and polished and decadent. He had been in a lot of expensive places before, but never here. He felt like a hick, and hated that feeling. Parker on the other hand appeared unmoved by the sheer wealth on display, which caused a knot of something inexplicable to form in his gut. She had gone real quiet. Not just with her words either, just, like she had gone somewhere inside he couldn't reach. It was a bizarre sensation, to feel like he could protect her physically, but had no idea what internal war she was waging. He monitored the hallways, and understood Parker's request for the service lift. Anyone could find out which floor you were on if you used the conventional method. Her automatic attention to security was also a red flag, and he found the balls of his feet as they moved, ready for anything, since he had no clue what was going on.

At a service elevator, Jenny made a face at a porter about to board and jerked her head to Parker. The porter held back, and nodded at the thief who clung on to Eliot's hand tight. He tried to loosen it, since he needed to be able to use both arms if need be, but she glanced at him with an expression that said please, and he sighed, allowing her the death grip. Her hand was small and cool in his. It wasn't all bad.

Jenny ushered them in, and swiped a card on the panel before punching in the floor number. Twenty. The twentieth floor. Since Eliot was still on guard mode, he made a note, working out how many floors were above and below and wondered if he should lift Jenny's card in-case it was required.

He and Parker stood at the back of the lift, which for a service chute was still pretty fancy, and Jenny stood in front, hands clasped behind her back. Parker was still silent, and he could feel her anxiety throbbing beneath her skin by the pulse in her thumb against his. Finally it stopped, and Jenny let them out. Parker hesitated at the door, and Jenny swiped to return, then without a word, passed the card to Parker with a smile through the doors before they slid closed. OK, now Eliot was in the twilight zone. Was Parker a Manhattan princess or some shit? Man, what was with rich folks and crime? Sophie was royalty or something for pity's sake. An anger, born of frustration and feeling deceived began to brew in his chest, and Parker's nerves were not helping.

"Come on, it's this way." Not meeting his eye, Parker span on her heel and marched off, leaving him no choice but to follow, since she had not let go of his hand yet, growing increasingly confused and angry with every step through the luxuriant interior of New York's finest hotel. The Plaza. He still couldn't believe it. What he had expected was some safe house in the Bronx or a motel she knew of down town. Not this. Not this at all. And it was not often Eliot was surprised.

At a discreet door with no number, she stopped, and with a lightning quick glance over her shoulder at his stormy countenance, she opened the door and stepped in, finally letting go of his hand. Left with not many alternatives, and casting a cautious sweep up both ends of the hallway, he followed, letting the door swing shut behind him.

He had thought the first words from his mouth when they were alone would be to ball her out. The scene that greeted him put a stop to that. It was stunning. Directly ahead, through a hallway door, he saw through to a spacious living area and a flight of stairs leading to a further floor. The hallway itself had a vaulted ceiling and was damn near gilded with gold. A huge mirror on the right reflected the printed wallpaper of wild flowers on the other and stupidly, he felt surrounded by fields and colour. The black carpet was thick, but runners of a tougher no less gorgeous material made a path toward the door, and to the bathroom suite right by the exit. A wide doorway stood open to the bathroom, and a glance inside almost blinded him. White. Gleaming pristine white, with a huge low sunken bath in one corner and a toilet no doubt hidden behind the partially opened door. His mind was going a mile a minute.

Parker had vanished into the other room off the small hallway next to the bathroom, and he could see it was a kitchenette, complete with sink and cooker and fridge. A fully fitted kitchen in miniature. That room had no door, just a wide archway, allowing him to watch as she reached for a cupboard above the counter and pulled out a box of cereal.

She looked at him then.

"Hungry?"

For answers. He ignored her and carried on through to the living space, taking in the plush décor and sofas and huge TV on one wall. Bookcases lined the opposite wall, full of books, the spines glinting beneath the chandelier style lighting. A vast games console beside the fireplace beneath the TV caught his eye. Wow. Even Hardison would be jealous of that set up. A coffee table was set with flowers between the sofas that sprawled low, and a dining table sat off in a nook below the staircase. The windows let in the night, and he could see the twinkling lights of New York below and the stars above. It was like being caught between heaven and hell he mused.

The staircase led to another floor, and a flat panel hanging on the wall and an electric runner that ran opposite the banister on the wall made him curious. Hell, it all made him curious.

Placing their bags on the floor, he took a few moments. Who the hell was Parker anyway?

"You can take the master suite upstairs. I'll have the other room." He glanced to his left and found her standing there, hat gone now, and hair loose, eating cereal from the box just like always.

"So are you gonna tell me or what?" He didn't mean to growl, but frankly, this was out of his comfort zone by a country mile. And that reminded him. "Who the hell is Mr Frank?"

"The manager."

"You called the manager of the Plaza Hotel earlier?" It was ridiculous. She shrugged, screwing her brow in thought.

"He's _a_ manager not _the_ manager. At least I think he is. He may have been promoted. He's very good."

"Parker you heard that expression pulling teeth?"

She nodded, chewing.

"It was invented by someone who met you in a former life. Seriously what should I know here?"

"Nothing. I believe it falls under the, what was it again? Oh yeah, remit of being personal. Rule Three remember?" Smug, she looked so smug, but she had him on that one.

"Parker, I hate to break it to you, but if you don't tell me pertinent information I cannot keep you safe."

"Its the weekend Eliot, you are off the clock. Sheesh relax already."

Eliot bit back the news that he was never off the clock, not ever, and tried another tack.

"OK. Is there," he spoke slow, as if to a small child learning to talk, "any reason you may be a target here."

That got her. She paused a fraction of a second before shaking her head. "No. Pretty sure we are OK on the assassination possibilities."

"I want you to think very hard about that Parker. Because the guys I saw in the lobby were all ex CIA, and they were not here having a drink to good ol' times and the fall of Baghdad, ya feel me?"

"Did Baghdad fall?"

"Yes Parker. A coupla times now. Com'on, gimme something here. Could they be here for you _Ms_ Pitstop?" She grinned at that.

"I don't think so Mutley" Minx. "But I guess I'm not a hundred percent. No reason to think they know-"

"Know what?" He pounced on that, and swivelled so he could hold her shoulders and have her face him. She shrunk a little from his grip and he felt like an ass, rubbing her shoulders in an effort to feel less of an ogre.

"It's a long story and I'm never supposed to tell it." Cross. She was cross with him.

"Even if your life could be in danger?" She rolled her eyes at that.

"Hardly likely Eliot, the chances that they are after me and I happen to show up-"

"A motion sensitive bomb in a vase of flowers is hardly likely but we nearly lost Sophie to one, so humour me. Spit. It. Out."

"Pinky swear you won't tell?" Was she kidding? Eliot looked around the room looking for another sane being to help him out. Seriously? She held out her pinky. Like she wanted him to actually, oh for the love of, he hooked pinkies.

"Pinky swear dammit now talk!"

"You know the Gardner Heist?" Oh man did he. Everyone in the free world knew about it. Wait, she couldn't possibly have been involved in that. She would have been what, seven or eight? Shit he had no idea. Since she started her life of crime at around nine who the hell knew? He nodded in reply, frowning as he listened.

"Wait are we clear to have this conversation in here?" Paranoia crawled in his gut. The Gardener Heist was beyond big. It was the one. _The_ One.

She walked over to a sofa and flopped down on it. Waving a hand about the room, she nodded.

"Had it fitted out with frequency jammers. Nobody can hear us." Smart he thought. Then worried about that.

Taking a seat opposite, he leant forward. resting his elbows on his knees. His arm ached a little, but all he could think of was her story.

"Then get to it Parker. Don't leave me hangin'." She looped her legs over the back of a thousand dollars worth of furniture and stared at him from an upside down position as she hung off the seat, her hair trailing the carpet. A sexy blonde bat.

"You remember Archie?" Remember him? He hated that dude. Leading her into a mess, throwing her at the Steranko, not doing the right thing by her when she was a kid. Dude was a dick in Eliot's book. No way had that guy landed a joint like this. He didn't believe it.

"Well, it's kinda his fault." Another reason to bash his head in Eliot figured, annoyed. "You see, he used to show me off sometimes. His pet thief ya know?" Eliot cracked his knuckles. Yeah he knew. "I was his protégé. He liked to prove how good he trained me by getting me to rob his friends."

"Nice. Did he buy you ice cream after?"

"How did you know?"

Eliot closed his eyes. Archie Leach was getting it big time. "Go on."

Parker shrugged, which looked odd since she was hanging upside down, and carried on.

"Well, one such friend, was a Mr...lets say X. I think that's safest. Archie wanted me to break into his house in Manhattan, and take pictures of his walls, just to prove he had taught me well enough to do it. You see?"

"Not really." Casing the joint to blackmail him with more likely Eliot groused internally. Damn Parker was too trusting. Or had been once.

"Well I did it, I mean it was pretty easy really, his system was a -"

"Parker darlin' I don't care about his freakin' security system. I get it. You beat it. What happened?"

"Well I got in fine, took the shots, and was headed out when a Rottweiller got me."

Eliot's mind almost blew up.

"He sent you into a house with security dogs and didn't dose them? What kinda effed up human being-"

"My fault. Rookie mistake. I should have checked and I didn't." Eliot felt his fists clench, and her nonchalant attitude all but destroyed his control.

"Parker those dogs kill. You could have been killed." They weren't trained to sit on a damn intruder till cops showed, they were trained by those unscrupulous enough to exploit their nature, as attack dogs and could be vicious as hell.

"I thought that at the time, " she admitted matter of factly. He thought his heart might actually break. "So now I go in from above. Dogs aren't that great at jumping. Not as high as I can fly anyway." She grinned, victoriously and he felt something snap inside before reforming.

"So what the freakin' hell happened at the house?" He didn't think his blood pressure could take it. He reached over and took a handful of cereal, cramming it in. For the sugar. To ease his adrenalin spike. Whatever.

"I was busted. Caught red handed by Mr X. And his wife."

Wife? The word pulled Eliot up. Archie and his family always bothered him too. People in this game did not get to have wives. Or kids. It was selfish to do this work and expect loyalty should you get caught, or worse, get dead.

"They knew I was Archie's brat. Mrs X convinced him not to call the police. She made me warm milk and cleaned up the dog bite."

"It bit you?" Damn that had to hurt.

"Well it didn't wag its tail and try to lick me to death." She sighed like he was a dumb ass. Which, he realised, he was. Sometimes. "She was nice. I wouldn't tell them who had sent me, even though they knew and had the camera. Mrs X said loyalty is a rare commodity amongst rogues, but that there was honour amongst true thieves." Eliot liked Mrs X already.

"So, that has to do with the Gardner Heist how?"

"The pictures I took were of the secret gallery in the house. Lets just say, I recognised a lot of the paintings."

And that was why Archie had sent her he thought, seeing red. What a son of a bitch. Then on the heel of that. _Wow_. Parker knew the secret the whole world wanted in on. His skin itched as he thought about the goons downstairs.

"Anyway, Mrs X asked if I could keep a secret. I said yes. Archie wasn't too happy I didn't complete the job and couldn't tell him what was in the gallery. I told him I got busted on entry not exit. He kinda vanished after that. Mr X had me do some odd jobs for him and Mrs X used to take me out sometimes."

Eliot processed that. He shuddered to think what equated an odd job in Parker vernacular. The Mona Lisa? Shit.

"And this place?"

"Well, I went my own way after a while, and Mr X went legit. But we kept in touch a little. If I was in New York for work. " Again, Eliot winced. Their lives were weird, he decided. Ten shades of weird.

"Mr X died about seven years ago, and Mrs X was real sad about it. At his funeral, she asked me all kinds of questions and was a wreck. It was sad."

She hesitated, and Eliot saw the memories flash before getting buried beneath her calm façade. She wasn't impervious to hurt. Far from it.

"Mrs X passed away nearly four years ago. I got word at a postbox I use. It was...a bad day that day.

In the letter from her attorney's they told me she had left me this place. Its a permanent residence, bequeathed to me in her will. She used one of my aliases. Ms P Pitstop for the deeds. She asked me which was my favourite once." Faraway eyes and her voice tailed off.

Damn, Eliot didn't know how to help her through remembering sad times, and felt guilty as hell for making her relive it.

"Parker I'm real sorry." Inadequate, but the truth.

"It's totally fine." Damn that piñata voice, with a slight wobble. He stood, and crossed over to her dangling form. Crouching down, he brushed her hair as it fell on the carpet, compelled to comfort her. His hand smoothed her brow and she looked up at him with eyes like pools reflecting his face.

"Don't you want to know what happened to the paintings?"

"No Parker." He shook his head, never more positive of anything in his life. "That secret you can keep."

"Good, because I have to no matter what," she told him solemnly. "I pinkie swore it."

And if that wasn't the sweetest stupidest bravest thing he ever heard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**A note: I believe that this is the hardest chapter I have written, and hope its not exploitative. In my opinion, it's in character for my thief. (Eliot can fight me for her!LOL).**

**Reviews are appreciated, I love that you guys read and give me feedback, it makes my day.**

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><p>Parker sang as she washed her hair in the shower. She was happy. Yeah she had told Eliot, but she hadn't really told him anything much. Not any names, or the big secret. And he hadn't bullied her into telling either, which she liked. The Gardner Heist was a legend, not a myth, and she was careful when visiting to be discreet, just in case. The insurance guy had always suspected Mr X, and though he too had passed, his suspicions lived on in the form of journalists, investigators, private collectors...A lot of folks wanted to know who pulled off the biggest job in art theft history and would do anything to know. Parker was confidant that she was not linked to Mr X in anyway, but it paid to be circumspect.<p>

She had been here once with Mrs X, before the end, and the place held memories that were rare for her. Happy ones. Mrs X used to tell Mr X off for having her work, then despair when Parker insisted she loved it. A born thief, Mrs X said, but had liked her anyway. At least Parker hoped it was like not pity. Her song faltered. Whatever.

Mrs X had read her the stories of Eloise, a special girl who lived at the Plaza, having adventures. In the will, she had said she left the home to Parker so she could be Eloise forever if she wanted. Parker turned her face to the spray, letting hot tears run away in the flow. Crying was pointless. So she stopped after allowing a little sorrow out. Crying didn't fix a problem. It caused one. If you were emotionally weak, you were vulnerable to making mistakes. And that would not do. Today though, she was feeling a little unsteady in that regard. The radio throwing incident for one. The inappropriate teasing when Eliot was half naked. Her skin flushed raw under the shower and she rinsed out her hair and stepped from the cubicle. Wrapping herself in a fluffy towel, she realised she had no clean clothes to change into, and grabbed a dressing gown from the door, loving the feel of soft white cotton at her skin. Pampering was not all bad she decided. She could sleep in the hotel 'jama's she requested and save her clothes for when they left. Grabbing a fine brush from the bathroom dresser, she bundled her clothes in her arms and made her way downstairs, wanting to hang them in the airer to keep dry after thoughtlessly dumping them on the floor to jump in the shower. Getting them just a bit damp in the process.

Eliot had taken use of the downstairs bathroom, and his hair gleamed as he rubbed it with a towel on the sofa. He was wearing sweat pants and a vest and it took her a second to realise she was staring. He had the courtesy not to call her on it, and she was grateful. It was a sensation she was not used to, this hot thing writhing inside when she thought of him at the truck, bare chested, looking up at her with eyes that-she stopped. It was wrong to think about him like that. Totally wrong. Bad thief.

"Enjoy your shower?" He glanced up, and she thought he looked at her legs, which was stupid because he had seen them a thousand times. His eyes met hers and she nodded. They both looked away after a moment, and Parker's skin felt hot and clammy all over. The shower had been too hot. Yeah.

"How's your arm?" The stitched up wound looked angry but clean, and he shrugged.

"It's fine. I'll ice it." The image of Eliot holding an ice pack to some part of his anatomy was familiar enough to snap her from her varying concerns. So far she was getting away with it she realised, scanning the room. Nothing untoward on display, Mr Frank had done a great job. She'd leave him a thank you note.

"Do you wanna order in?"

"Hell yeah I am famished. I don't know how you survive on that crap Parker, you need to get some meat in-" He stopped point blank and blanched. She watched, fascinated. What was his deal?

"I'll get the phone. You can order anything, though I recommend the pancakes." She looked up and wished she hadn't said that. "They aren't as good as yours of-course."

He nodded his head with a pained expression. "Mighty nice of you to say so ma'am." He didn't believe a word. She sighed. Hell.

"Give me a minute I'll put these to dry and grab it."

"Sure," he nodded. "So we eat, get some shut eye and leave about 5? That sound cool?"

"Yep." She called back as she hung her clothes up in the airer, hearing him move around the living room. The safe living room. She smiled. He wasn't getting all her secrets. Nobody was allowed everything. That would be dumb as chips. She wondered how soon after he went to bed she could leave and scope out Tiffany's. Not to rob of-course. Just to, you know, check it out. Take a look see. Thoroughly satisfied, she found the envelope in her jacket from Mr Frank, and began to open it as she grabbed the phone off the hallway dresser.

"Mind if I watch the box while we wait for food Parker? I didn't catch the game on the radio."

"Sure." She replied easily, not caring, and opened the letter, pulling it stretched as she returned to the living area. The words did not compute the first time. Then they blurred and made her dizzy. Oh God. Oh no. No. Three words that made her feel faint were printed on the page.

Press Play Pitstop.

"Eliot stop! Don't press anything!" She looked up as she entered at a run, wild eyed, and Eliot stood in the centre of the room holding the remote with his eyes fixed on the screen. Oh God no. Parker wanted to bury herself away and hide. Maybe she could throw herself off the terrace upstairs? She had her harness after all. She didn't want to look at the screen. Never had wanted to, and Mr Frank the old fox knew it. So he had forced it on her anyway. Mean man. He wasn't that good at all, she decided, amending her assessment of him darkly.

"What the hell is this Parker?" Eliot's query was cautious, and he sat back on the seat, head still raised and aimed at the screen. She cringed.

"It's nothing. Not a thing. Just a snafu. I'll fix it."

"Don't you dare touch anything. Holding out on me Parker?" He looked back over his shoulder, and seemed to assess her state. "C'mere."

She shook her head. She really did not want to watch it.

Eliot growled and stood, pacing toward her with a curious look on his face. He switched off the lights and pulled her gently by the arm to sit beside him on the sofa, plenty of space between them.

Taking the phone from her hands, he dialled the front desk.

"Hey Jenny. Yeah it's Mutley. Can I get a plate of pancakes sent up?" He glanced at Parker, and she couldn't think as he paused,thoughtfully, before going back to the call. "Make that two plates and a couple of sodas. Yeah. Oh and steak and fries. Yeah. Rare. Thanks."

Parker watched as he placed the phone on the occasional table beside the sofa and turned his eyes back on her with a hunters precision.

"We're watching this Parker."

"I really don't want to. Not my thing. Thanks anyway." Her carefree smile wasn't working on him.

"I won't watch if you want. Just you. But you have to Parker. C'mon darlin' look at it." It scalded her eyes to look and she didn't want that. "It's a gift darlin'. It's rude not to accept it."

"But I-" His eyes were so warm and understanding she thought she may be hallucinating. Had they poisoned her cereal? Damn and double doughnuts this was humiliating.

"I'll go upstairs." He placed the remote in her hand, and went to stand but she gripped his hand tight as he stood, and tugged him back down. In all honesty, if she had to watch, she couldn't watch alone. She had no idea how to handle it. The emotion that the title screen evoked was like a wave poised above her head threatening to crash over her, drowning her in it. She needed someone to pull her from under that.

"Stay. If I have to suffer so do you." She tried to sark it out, but his eyes were soft as he shrugged, and she had a prickling sensation in her stomach and chest. He was too observant. And she bought this on herself for asking him here and being so sure she could get away with it. Screw the rules she was going to rob Tiffany's after this she decided. She had earned it.

The title screen was a mosaic of children's faces, hundreds, all in tiny stamp like squares. By magic, somehow the faces and colours and shapes in the tiny tiles created a word.

Thank You.

Oh God, Parker could feel a lump swell in her throat. She could die if it got any bigger. She clung to Eliot's hand, hoping he would crack her airways if necessary.

She huddled in her seat, her legs beneath her, towels wrapped about her and the dressing gown draped round like a protective cocoon and pressed play.

* * *

><p>Eliot watched Parker watch the screen. The images reflected on her skin, lighting her with the faces of all the kids she had helped somehow. Why had she hidden it? But he knew already. Her eyes were shining with un-shed tears and he wanted to hold her and rub her back till she was all cried out. Sometimes showing emotion was not a weakness, but denying it certainly could be. He circled his thumb against her hand, in an effort to soothe. He was allowed this one intimacy surely? A friendly touch of support. Screw it, he wasn't letting go.<p>

He turned his attention to the screen. The titles gave way to a child's face up close at the camera lens, kissing it cheekily, then scampering back to a sofa, this sofa Eliot realised, the one he and Parker currently sat on. On the screen, the child, a boy of about five was climbing onto presumably his dad's knee. A woman, man, girl of about twelve and the toddler all stared at them, as if looking right at them.

"Ms Pitstop, we wanted to write you, but Mr Frank told us you ain't a fan of letters." The man cleared his throat, his southern drawl cracking just a bit. The boy smiled and waved, and the mother smiled at him.

"So we thought we'd say it direct instead." The mother looked up and aimed a watery smile at the camera. Eliot felt his chest squeeze. Oh lord he had not even noticed.

"I always wanted to visit the city, and maybe be on Broadway when I got older." The girl with the scarf on her head spoke up, her voice quiet, but so very powerful. "I guess that might not happen now, or maybe it will." She turned to her folks and her dad rubbed her back, pride written large on every pore of his face. Nodding, she turned back to continue.

"I don't know who you are, or why you do this. But thank you. I got to see Wicked! and we rode around Central Park in a carriage and did so much good stuff. It's the best trip we ever had."

The mum and dad nodded, and the little boy glanced at his dad who was struggling to keep his emotions in check He nodded at the boy, who jumped off his knee and ran back to the camera, his face filling the screen.

"Thanks for makin' my sister's dreams come true Mrs Pinkstop." He kissed the screen, and then there was fuzz, before a new image appeared, of a different family, on the same sofa.

Eliot tried to breathe a minute, as the impact hit him. He looked at Parker and his heart near burst when he saw tears streaming silently down her cheeks as she drank it in. Damn. No words were sufficient in the moment, so he hauled her across the space and rearranged her so her head lay on his chest. She didn't protest. He knew she would hate him acknowledging her tears, So he kissed her crown fiercely, letting his arm sit loose at her waist, and felt her hiccup into his vest.

They watched on, as family after family expressed their thanks, and some told their stories, and some shared good news and others bad. He realised the wide doors were to allow wheelchairs access, and that the stairs were fitted with a discreet stair lift. He realised Parker's capacity to give exceeded beyond a free room and board, but to flights and tickets to shows. He realised why she hated the thanks as terminal illness filled their vision, knowing that she would feel a fraud as she could not buy them health. The service lift dinged, and he didn't want to move but she slid off, rubbing her eyes with the cuffs of her dressing gown and smiled at him.

"That's enough now." He nodded, and switched the TV to pick up a cable channel. Unsure what to say, he just fetched the food, and leant on the counter in the kitchenette for a minute to try and calm his own emotional response to the video. The words did not et him most. But the eyes of the parents who fought so hard for their kids, only to have them fall sick and get ill from so many diseases...The look they had, of hope and gratitude and grief all in one just about undid him.

He coughed, and tied his hair in a band, sleeking it down and with it, his control. Grabbing the cloches, and placing them on trays with the cutlery and condiments provided, he took them into the living room, where Parker was waiting. She took a tray, and left the room, heading upstairs.

He tried to ignore the stab of hurt her retreat caused, but knew it was right. Knew it.

"Aren't you coming?" She paused on the stairs and caught his eyes, hers open and direct. Crystal clear since the tears had fallen. "We can eat on the terrace and watch cops bust people."

"Gotcha. Our own Cops Special."

"Exactly," She grinned, and turned away, disappearing up to the next floor. He felt odd going up there, which was stupid considering the events of a few minutes before. Having her cry on his shoulder was one thing. Being alone with her in a dressing gown so close to a bed was a whole 'nother thing. But his steak and fries had looked good. Feeling like an ass for the umpteenth time he followed. It was just food, he told himself.

Rule Three was bust wide open he mused, and as he climbed the stairs he had a sinking feeling that she had managed to obliterate Rule Four too. Without even knowing it. Man he was in trouble here.

He wondered if he should just call it a night and try and grab the remaining few hours of sleep before they left. Truth was he wouldn't sleep though. He barely did any more. The power nap in the truck had been an aberration for him. Sleep and him just weren't that close. He could rest, but he knew his mind would be torturing him, with a whole bunch of stuff he had no right thinking.

He got to the terrace and understood at once why Parker had wanted to eat here. It must be like a balm to her raw self all this open night sky, and the drop off the building was spectacular. Nice running up room too, since the terrace was a large paved area adorned with potted plants, a table and chairs with a parasol, and a planter that ran the length of the balcony, filled with flowers. Plant of space to haul and ass and leap. He wondered if she had. The faces of the families kept drifting across his thoughts, like background noise he couldn't tune out. He took a seat and found Parker sitting there with her glass raised ready for a toast.

"What are we toasting?"

"Who Eliot, _who_. To Mrs X." She raised her glass and he copied.

"To Mrs X." He thought Ms Pitstop deserved a little appreciation in all honesty but knew not to push. This had been an unexpected trip in so many ways, he was still filtering them all. He remained alert to the balcony and an ear out to the stairs, paranoia at full scale out here. They were sitting ducks if an enemy chose to attack from-

"They aren't here for me Eliot." How could she know that? In fact how did she know he was even considering-"You have that look on your face when you are waiting to get pounced, you just don't know when yet." He had a look for that? He schooled his features, then scowled. Too much effort. The frowning in concentration was in built.

"You do good things here Parker." Somehow it came out without his permission, and he followed it by eating his steak. Loudly. She looked at him, and smiled till her eyes crinkled then put a finger to her lips and wiggled her little finger at him. He groaned as he swallowed a piece of steak, apparently only this would suffice. He nodded, and hooked fingers to complete the oath.

Satisfied she let go, and he tore through his meal like a tornado, not giving a crap about manners He was on edge man. Even now, he could see Parker's throat and the column of her neck leading downwards to her cleavage, bundled up as she was in that dressing gown. His emotional state was ruined thanks to Mr Franks welcome video, and he could not stop wondering if she was naked under the robe. Like, naked. Which felt wrong but he couldn't help it. Her head had imprinted itself to his shoulder and chest, and his arm had curled about her just right. Ever since he let her go and she had padded away, his body was humming her frequency and hers was vibrating back even if she wasn't aware of it, though he thought she might be. OK knew she was. Her eyes and hands gave her away, and the pulse at her throat, and the heat that arced across the table as they ate and glanced up at each other then away was electric.

He had to go. Wiping his mouth with a napkin and taking one last slug of soda he stood, and said goodnight.

"Wait." Parker stood, and he forced his body still. She was vulnerable and tired and he had to go.

"We should get some sleep Parker, we still have a ways to go and a wedding to get to." He almost said _through_ but saved it.

"Will we have to dance at the wedding?"Of all the things he might have expected...He shook his head.

"Nah it's not mandatory. Most folks do I guess."

"Will you practise with me? I have nada dance skills, and if I'm getting a dress I should dance in it. Don't you think?"

"Parker. I reckon we should-" He trailed off as the moon broke cover and her face lit up like an opal. Dammit, he didn't want to hold her because she was vulnerable and tired and sad, and yet those were all the reasons she was looking for a way to get some contact. It wasn't sex. It was touch. Just because his thoughts ran that hot didn't mean hers did in the same manner. She could just crave affection, which was understandable after her evening. How could he abandon her on the freakin' terrace like that?

"Eliot. I'm sad." She frowned, a joke frown but he knew beneath the clowning and silliness, she was fragile. She really was an excellent thief he acknowledged. His sanity was in her back pack somewhere he was sure of it.

He caught her by the waist and swung her to him, careful not to crush them together. They fit like jigsaw puzzle pieces, her head resting on his shoulder just right. She fell in easily, her dressing gown fluffy at his skin. Her hair tickled his chin, and he tucked her head under his, and swayed. When her hands crept up to wrap about his neck, he gave up all semblance of dancing and just held her. It was what she needed.

"It's weird to be us and be helpless." Her voice reached him from afar, and he strained to hear, still half listening to any sign of imminent attack.

"Whadya mean?" Though he think he already knew.

"Well I can't steal time and you can't beat up cancer. Makes me feel useless." She burrowed in tighter. Eliot wanted to kiss the sad out of her so bad he grazed her forehead with his chin, rubbing at her like a cat, and she responded without compunction, raising her head to look him right in the eye. Too close. She was too close and too soft and entirely too Parker. His stomach dropped as their eyes held, and the embrace was just what it was, not a dance at all, just a man holding a woman who needed to be held. Because life was hard sometimes, but doing all you could to help folks and still feeling that you came up short? He couldn't have her think that. Not ever. Would not let her see her acts her as futile. They really weren't, which was the point of that damn video. To show just how much the trips helped, for a multitude of reasons, each family with their own battle and needs, expressing their own unique thanks.

Her face was still lifting and adrenalin roared through him, skin alight, as he realised she was closing her eyes and leaning in. Jesus. He wanted to forget everything except her mouth which was more than tempting right now, but honour dictated otherwise. And she would regret letting herself got lost so deep. Parker was not quite in charge of herself yet, so he had to be the good guy on her behalf. Freakin' moonlit terraces on the Plaza were a dangerous thing he sighed.

He kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger at her hairline, since not kissing her at all simply wasn't an option, then pulled back, watching asher eyes opened and she became far too aware of what her body had been doing. The horrified shame was too much to take.

"Hey Parker?" She couldn't lift her head, and he wanted to yell off the terrace in fury that this thief, this blonde magic special creature could not be his. He lifted her chin with a finger, gently. He didn't want her to be ashamed. Not ever. Screw it. he knew how to make her smile again.

"Parker, you wanna go rob Tiffany's?"

She looked up at him finally, a naughty gleam of a different nature lighting her eyes, and a slow smile formed on her face.

"I think the answer to that is d'uh, in the affirmative."

He grinned at her sass. Ask a stupid question Eliot he thought, and you get a stupid answer.

"So let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

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Having a break in to organise was exactly what Parker needed.

A call down to Jenny proved fruitful, and whilst Eliot changed from his sweats into jeans and a shirt, iced his arm for a spell, and watched the sports updates on the TV she still had trouble looking at, she dried off more thoroughly, threw her half dry clothes into her bag, brushed her teeth and her hair, and waited. She could hear Eliot arguing with the plays and then with himself. Weird. Since he had a sandwich named after him, he was quite the baseball fan too. Though he still refused to admit it.

She checked her phone again.

Hardison had texted her quite a lot when she was driving and Eliot slept. Sent her a picture of him in the middle of a group of fellow Horde folk, whatever they were, to say he had arrived safe. His familiar grin was comforting. Looking at his face now, she got a knot where her heart was, and bit her lip. Comforting was good.

He had asked if there were two tents and sent a pic of him frowning at her, like, don't be a bad girl Parker. She had told him the sleeping arrangements were sorted and left it at that. What else could she say that wasn't a lie? She didn't want to do that. Lie to him. She found her fingers on the keys of her phone, slipping over the letters, looking for inspiration. She felt like she had to say something, tell him something, in the wake of what had happened on the terrace, but wasn't sure what. She was new to this dating thing. Was it appropriate to tell him about the hug? To tell him that Eliot had held her when she was sad, and that for a moment, a long moment, she had wanted to lose herself in more than an friendly cuddle? She was pretty sure that would not go over well. And Sophie would not approve. She cooed over her and Hardison. Parker knew instinctively that would not be the case with Eliot. The clean lines of her affection for Hardison, and the mess Eliot created within her were completely different. Sophie wanted the sweet clean lines for her. Not the mess. Parker watched TV sometimes. She knew that Hardison was the nice guy. He named his truck Lucille for Gods sake. Still mourned her too bless his strange self. He was the one you took home to your mother. But Parker thought about that and figured she didn't have a mother. She had monsters in her past. And Eliot was the choice to meet them for sure. But that was a silly thought, since Parker had slain her own demons and learned to live with those who refused to budge. So that wasn't helpful either.

It took fifteen minutes before the service hatch dinged, and Eliot let her be as she brooded. Parker hated brooding, but had a knack for it when needed. She hopped off the counter as the hatch sounded and felt a rush sweep her from her confused thoughts. The adrenalin that she adored before a job swept her jumbled reflections away, and replaced them with the intoxicating thrill of the work.

Jenny had done her proud and managed to source, who knew where, a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved tee shirt. She was a little bummed that the job did not need a costume. She rocked her FBI jacket. And she was getting into the whole grifting thing, it was fun to be other people. She could do with being someone else right about now. Though she doubted Alice could cope either. Maybe Hagen? Enough Parker. She was looping and it was not helpful. Shaking off Ms Pitstop, who had cried like a baby, she got her head in the game, shedding the robe and towel in exchange for the new gear.

In the living room, she stood waiting for Eliot to notice, hands on hips. He was pretty engrossed, before glancing over distractedly.

"Oh hey Parker." Then returned to watching the high lights.

"Chop chop Eliot, places to go, Tiffany's to rob." She tapped the invisible watch on her arm.

"Ah. We're really doin' that huh?" He took a pull of soda and sighed, before switching the TV off and standing. "So. What's the play? Let me clear our stuff out of here too."

"They have a maid service."

"Yeah? We got two hands too. Move it lazy ass." God he was infuriating when he was right. Fine. She jogged upstairs and checked the bedroom for anything she may have left.

Downstairs, Eliot was waiting at the door with the bags, shirt rolled back to his elbows.

"You did the dishes didn't you?"

"What? Maybe. So."

"They collect the dishes. Jeez what is it with you and bubbles?"He hustled her through the door, eyes darting to check the passage first, and she grinned as he tried to hide a smirk. "It is the bubbles you like isn't it Eliot? The pretty bubbles?"

"Keep it up Pitstop. Muttley bites you know." Parker's stomach flipped at the tease she would once have laughed off. She laughed anyway. She felt giddy. She managed not to clap her hands though.

"We'll pick the truck up now. You get to be Clyde again. I guess this was a pointless layover after all." Though it didn't feel like it. In fact, Parker wondered if part of her had bought him here just to share the secret. Not the kids, that was still raw, thinking how he had had seen her weakness, but the place. That she had something like it, and could surprise him when she wanted. It made her think.

"It wasn't pointless Parker." His tone caught her attention and she met his eyes as they called the service elevator. He was slick, his hair tied back, his shirt loose over his tee shirt, his jeans ripped but clean. He was handsome she realised, not that she hadn't thought it before, but, he was really really handsome. He raised an eyebrow at her. She felt her cheeks redden. "I never had such good steak before." His words penetrated her embarrassment and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm still surprised you didn't insist on meeting the cow it came from."

"Nothin' wrong with being careful darlin'."

"Right. Because meeting the cow and interviewing it would help how?"

"Parker how in hell does a man interview a cow? Seriously, there's something wrong with you."

The doors opened and they got inside, and Parker used the key card Jenny had given them to access the car park on the lower ground floor and leant on the back rail, watching Eliot. He leant on the rail to the side, and watched her back. She couldn't stop a smile spilt her features, and he ducked his head before grinning back. This was them. They clicked and worked as a team together so well, so many times, that a lot of it came second nature now. Eliot knew to take out the live security, and trusted her to access anywhere. And she could. The few times she had been in a jam he had appeared and knocked out the enemy. Even got himself locked in during the Steranko job to back her up. She smiled again. It was after 2 am, and they were in New York, the place she learned to survive as a kid. Maybe that was why she wanted to stop. This was the place her skills were honed and finessed. This was were Parker, master thief, was born. Perhaps she just needed someone to know that. To know her story.

Watching Eliot, she realised that Hardison should have gotten her story. Well, the parts she was willing to share anyway. Yet she didn't regret that Eliot got it instead. He was like her. He knew how to keep a secret. Hardison had a habit of over talking. Which helped 70% of the time on a job, but caused problems too. She couldn't help think maybe he would do that for real. Talk too much one day about the thief he dated once and spill her secret. It felt disloyal to think that. But she did. Eliot would not tell. Ever. He had secrets he hid and hid, until they threatened his family, and even then, he kept most back.

The elevator stopped, and they exited, and Eliot clocked the underground security system whilst scanning for hidden dangers. His keys had been sent up with Parker's clothes, and he knew where he was parked so she just let him lead, then almost barrelled into his back when he paused. He glanced at the vehicle he was in front of and motioned for her to look. She did.

"What?" She hissed, not sure what he was saying. He rolled his eyes and widened them, making a look closer face. She sighed, and looked again. Still nothing. She shrugged and he blew his cheeks out in exasperation.

"Do you people not pay attention to anythin' I teach you? Diplomatic plates. Explains the goons in the lobby. Probably a South African dictator or some crap."

"Don't tell me, it's a very distinctive car?" She grinned, not above teasing him even when she had grand theft on her mind. He looked at her funny.

"It's just a car Parker. Man you guys really need to lose the sarcasm, it's makin' y'all bitter."

She snorted at that. Then the truck was open and they were in, and she passed the key card back at the gate, feeling like she owed Jenny one. Maybe she would steal her the Tiffany Yellow Diamond? That would be nice.

Tiffany's was literally round the block. As Eliot pulled up beside Abercrombie and Fich down the street, he was not happy. She realised he might have forgotten about the Trump Tower being so close. Like Super close. Like next door. She wondered how he going to take the news when she broke it to him. Her plan was pretty thrilling. Oh the whole place was thief heaven. Bulgari opposite, Van Cleef, Gucci. Louis Vuitton. Bergdorff Goodman...Lots and lots of Sophieness.

"So what's the deal here Parker? How you getting in?" He parked, and began a death stare match with a cabbie he stole the spot from. The cabbie was one of New York's finest and wasn't scared easy. It took about fifteen seconds before he looked away.

"Oh you know, the usual. Jump off the Trump Tower and go in from the roof. Happy? Let's go." She got out like lightning but he followed with an alacrity that always shocked her.

"Hold up Parker, jus' hold the hell up." If his hair was down, she knew he'd be sweeping it back about now. "And what's your big plan on gettin' us in there?"

"I was thinking you could work out the details. I mean, I'm doing all the hard stuff."

"I swear to God Parker, I could just..." He clenched and unclenched his fists and she watched unmoved. He was quite theatrical was Eliot. Hands on hips, she waited.

"God damn it." He pulled out his phone and made a call, walking away from her as he did so, and she craned to hear his conversation. He snapped it shut and walked back. Opening the back seat, he yanked off his shirt and pulled out a white one from his bag, and a suit jacket. In about two minutes, he was high end security. Complete with credentials. Parker was never sure if his were real or not. It made her curious.

"C'mere." He pulled her forward and she yelped, scowling, but he ignored her and mussed up her hair, making it as big as a haystack, and then grabbed something from the dash. "Smear this on your mouth." It was a lipstick. In his dash. Huh. Parker was not happy that he had a lipstick in his dash.

"Who's is that?" Why was she asking? Why?

"Sophie's." Well if that wasn't a sucker punch. Feeling strangely winded, Parker just stared at it, and he cussed again, before holding her jaw steady and putting in on her mouth himself with a tender attention that made her madder.

"Why do you have Sophie's lipstick in your truck Eliot?" He smeared her mouth, spreading the colour across her lips and onto her face too. Eliot looked at her like she was talking Spanish. Maybe she should try, she opened her mouth and he answered.

"I like the colour Parker, why'd'you think? She dropped it when I gave her a ride last week."

Oh that was not a good word choice Parker thought, images of Eliot and Sophie riding filling her brain. Her face screwed up in response to the mental torture.

"You think I'd hook up with Sophie? Well thanks Parker. Thanks a lot. Jesus her and Nate-"

"You said that never stopped you before."

Once, he had said that once before on a job and looked at her like he was willing to show her how. As the words came out, Parker was aware that halfway through speaking her tone switched from judgemental to hopeful. Oh wow. How had she managed to start this again? Weren't they supposed to be robbing Tiffany's? Suddenly they were having a conversation without words outside Abercrombie and Fich at 2.30 am, in the middle of New York, that she was not equipped to handle. His eyes bore into hers, and she saw that her snap judgement had hurt him,. Or his pride. Something confusingly male at any rate. But she saw the question too. The would you like it not to stop me question, that had her feeling wobbly as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, his five o clock shadow skimming her cheek.

"Act drunk, young and Texan." Man he was not happy with her. The growl that accompanied his order licked straight down her spine. But she liked it. Then he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder without a second word and marched across to the Tower's entrance. Bouncing upside down, his hand slapping on her ass when it had no real reason to for the fireman's lift he was executing, her hair a wild loose cloud obscuring her vision, Parker wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into.


	10. Chapter 10

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Eliot would burn in hell for this one he was sure of it. I mean, he had done some bad shit in his day but this...suck it up man. He rapped on the glass and waited. His death stare came in handy again, since the security guard at the desk took a minute, then buzzed through on the coms to him.

"Can I help you Sir?" Eliot crossed his fingers on Parker's ass and went for it.

"Well I don't know son, can you? 'Cause you ain't lettin' me in, and that's pretty much all I am after at this precise moment in time." Texas baby. He could do Texas. He channelled a little Tommy Lee Jones, ala U.S Marshalls, not Man of the House, since that sucked, and owned it.

"I'm sorry Sir and you are?" They were looking on their monitors so Eliot looked up at the camera rather than through the coloured bronze glass. He patted Parker's rump and waved.

"Son, I appreciate it is late, but perhaps you should worry less about me and more about this handful right here? I believe y'all know her as Miss Teen USA?" He lifted his shoulder and Parker bounced, yelping a little. He squeezed her ass in warning.

Rapid rethinking at the other end of the intercom. Panic. Eliot loved it when he got them to panic.

"Now, I'll be wanting to talk to whatever bright young spark allowed this precious cargo to access a fake I.D? Y'all know she's eighteen don'chu? Where I come from son, tha's a hangin' offence right there and her daddy, who pays my salary by the way," he flashed his creds at the camera before tucking them away again and putting his hand on the back of her knees,"has been losin' his mind all night lookin' for this darlin' girl."

A pause and a phone call. Confirmation her daddy had indeed called. Well, Eliot had. Pretending to be him, to check she was actually out. Horrified scrambling ensued.

"I'll let you in Sir, sorry Sir, and her key is..?"

"If I were to tell you where I found this peach son, I'd have to kill you. You worry on your key card being compromised boy, and I'll not tell you what else has been compromised tonight. No sirree Daddy is not gonna like what I have to tell him I know that."

So going to hell.

The door clicked open.

He walked in.

Two security guards met him in the lobby, and he eye-balled them both. One looked passable, the other, laughable. They looked at Parker's prone form and a mass of blonde hair and one blanched and began to tip his head to see her face.

"I can't believe that is.."

"Well it is son. What can I say? We raise 'em tough in Texas. Been out drinkin' with a bunch of your _elite_. Who left her without a damn dime or way to get home. Now I don't know what kinda manners y'all have up in this city? But that's not how we do it in Texas." He moved as he spoke, swinging Parker back and forth and she was a rag doll, hair flying and arms dangling all over. "Y'all are just lucky she had my number memorised. Oh yeah, I know, it's impressive. She's got a head for numbers this one, smart girl." He patted her ass. Again. He was getting a kick out of it truth be told. Payback. Hell yes. She could tease and he could too. The younger guard followed the movement and continued to stare at Parker's rear.

"I'm sorry son, can I help you?" The guard blinked as Eliot garrotted him with his eyes. "Do you enjoy teenagers gettin' wasted on your watch so you can help 'em out? Are you the son of a bitch that gave her the I.D? Are you? Are you?" He advanced as he spoke and the guard shrank back in horror.

"No Sir, never!" He looked a little nauseous at the accusation, but Eliot could only see a guy staring at a supposedly eighteen years old's wasted ass. Worse, actually Parker's. The older guard raised a hand, placatingly.

"Young Roy here didn't mean any disrespect Mr.."

Eliot just raised an eyebrow at him. The are you shittin' me eyebrow.

"_Sir_, he didn't mean anything Sir. If we could help her to her room, we'll get all this sorted out and daddy doesn't have to know. Kids having fun, that's all this is. I'm sure the hangover will put a stop to any further wild nights."

"Y'all better hurry up, I'mma puke right here on this floor once it stops spinnin'." Parker piped up on his shoulder, well croaked up, and he was pretty impressed with her drawl.

"Well? Y'all heard the girl. Lead the way."

"Well, but, we can-"

"I have left her side for less than half a day son, foolishly believin' she was in safe hands here. If y'all think I am leaving her be after this? Forget it. Her daddy is a Texan son. Know what that means?" Both shook their head. Calling a guy old enough to be his father son and having it stick made him grin on the inside. "Over protective and trigger happy. Now move."

"Well, we can't leave the lobby Sir, if you just go on up I'm sure you'll be-"

"Urgh, help me, I'm dyin'." Dyin' had about eighteen vowels the way Parker moaned it, and she slid on his shoulder, making him adjust her with both hands. Hair everywhere and her ass centre of attention again. The young guard averted his gaze quicker than grease in a pan and the older guard looked worried he may need to clean up puke off his shoes.

"In case y'all didn't notice, I have my hands full about now? If one of you gentlemen would be so kind?" He nodded to the elevator, that needed a code he didn't have to access it. The younger guard hopped to it, eager to redress his earlier error. Eliot approved. The older guy shook his head bemoaning teens today and went back to his desk. At the elevator, the guard tapped in a code that Parker and he both managed to score, and as Eliot made to step in, Parker reached out from over his back to stroke the guys uniform, peeking at the guard from beside Eliot's hips.

"Thank-you kindly, you're so darn cute from down here, whassyur name ag'in?" Man if he was channelling Tommy Lee, she was his flirtier feminine self. Tammy Lee. The guard stammered and she thrashed her head, all blonde hair, lipstick smears and ass. They were in. Eliot stood at the back and looked at the kid again. Nodding to the plate inside.

"My hands ain't gotten any less busy son." Hastily the kid nodded and leant in to punch the floor and tap in the code. He vanished as the doors closed and Eliot gave him the thanks schmuck wave.

Even as the elevator rose he didn't let her down, since the cameras were pretty obvious. Plus she felt good. Which was by the by. And he wasn't thinking about how pliable she was. Or energetic. Or liftable. Nope, none of that kind of imagery was running through his mind at all. Her head was at his hip and man was he very very not thinking how close she was to an area of his anatomy he had been blissfully unaware she had had any contact with before now. This was not blissful ignorance this time around however, it was excruciating torture that the Chinese would envy. The elevator stopped at one point, and Eliot watched as a pop star walked in. It was plain that she was a pop star. Parker kneed him in the ribs and he got the message.

"Feelin' well enough to stand now sugar? Why certainly." He dumped her back on her feet in front of himself, and she slid from his front to behind him, then clung to his other side,closest to the pop star. Parker put her head on his arm, leaning in and spying on the other occupant who rode up with them through her mess of hair. God he hoped she didn't sniff her. Or lick her, or whatever insane thing her curiosity drove her to do.

The pop star got off a few floors later.

"D'you know who that was?" She hissed chewing her hair to cover her face since she had made the cameras herself. He nudged her behind him a little, conscious of their cover.

"Nope."

"Eliot!" Disbelieving. "You must know. If I know, you must know."

"Do I look like a man interested in pop stars?"

"Indiscernible mumbling freakin' Swift," was all he heard. He hid a smirk.

"What's that crazy cakes?"

"Forget it. That was _her. _You know," Parker lifted her arms up and held one wrist with the other hand, then performed the booty shake like she had ants in her pants, singing, o-oh-o-oh-o-oh-oh-oh or some such insanity. Eliot wasn't listening, he was too busy looking. He almost stood back and asked for a repeat performance.

"I thought you couldn't dance." Because that was talent right there, what she did with the booty shake. Hell yes it was.

"Is that dancing? I thought she was fitting. I used it to get through the rhythmic lasers at the Federal Bank of Res..."She trailed off under his stare, and he snapped out of it with effort. The image she created was one he would cherish. Forever. She began to sway and he almost went to catch her till he realised she was acting drunk. Not that anyone witnessing her dance could think otherwise. She leaned on his like a post, hair over her face and arms akimbo.

"So what floor do we need," he kept his voice low, he could not detect a mic, just a camera but that Donald Trump was a paranoid bastard. Probably wired the whole building. Eliot sighed, bad toupes always made people crazy. Because the world _was_ really talking about them after all.

"At least 50."

"Jesus, don't think I didn't count the floors P.._rincess." _He hissed not at all happy with her. "This is a 58 storey building. Shoot why not make it the roof huh?"

"Could we do that?" She looked up hopefully and his heart pounded at the sight of her on his chest. She looked bed tumbled. He shifted uncomfortably.

"No we can not. I'm betting all that she has a balcony you can fling yourself off. You know, that way you do." Keeping his voice at a murmur, she nodded then flopped on him again. "What are you doing?"

"Acting the part. Oh and Miss Teen USA? That's creepy."

"Well sorry sugar but right now she's blonde and so are you."

"How'd'you know she lives here?" A whisper as she chewed her hair again. At least he hoped this wasn't an accusation this time.

"All the winners live here, she was one that'd work." Plus, he shifted again, avoiding her eyes.

"Eliot." A warning, just like he used Parker. It made his ribs expand funny that she copied his ways like that. And he wondered if she would be talkative in bed. He figured with the right guy she could be...Stop it. Stop that right now you gutter minded cretin.

"I know her father all right?" Man he wasn't going to tell her that, but it just slipped out under duress and those eyes. Crapolla. "That's how I knew who to be when I called. Now shut it and look like you are gonna puke."

"Sure." She bent over, hands on hips and he rubbed her back with a weary expression for the benefit of those watching. Rubbing her back was nice. Apart from the harness she wore which was a bit freaky. But still, he stroked her back with there there mutterings and they rode to Miss Teen USA's floor.

"I have no idea which is her suite or how..."

"Swiped his master key Eliot," she informed him from her bent position. "It doesn't matter so long as we are facing the right direction."

"We're here. At Floor 51. Sweet. " The elevator stopped, and Eliot walked and Parker stumbled into the hallway.

It wasn't that hard to see which room was Miss Teen USA's. Her picture was framed beside her front door, the one in which she was crowned. Eliot smiled at it. Kid had grown up real nice bless her, her recalled a precocious toddler once upon a time, who her daddy loved more than life. Sweet kid.

"You passed me off as her?" Parker sounded incredulous.

"Sure. You're beautiful and blonde, it wasn't hard Parker." What's the big deal? Tip a person upside down it ain't all that easy to identify them.

Parker looked at him far too soberly for a second.

"What?" He sighed. Whatever. "C'mon, I gotta get you in and get myself out so-"

"OK." Placidly she shuffled beside him and they swiped the master to get in.

"If that's triggered a misuse of the master, I should be able to give these guys the run around a bit to cover you next door. Damn it's annoying not having a person in your ear tellin' you shit."

"I think it's exciting. Old school. We hear an alarm and run, relying on our wits and cunning." She winked at him. He stifled a grin. Crazy ass Parker. Diggin' it old school huh? Somehow even that became a lascivious thought. He tugged at his collar.

"Let's check the balcony."

They ran through the suite, which did look, despite the luxury, like a teenage girl lived there. Huh.

Score. A balcony stretched the entire length of the living space. But Parker was frowning.

"What the hell is it? Do your thing and I'll meet you on the ground, give me 5 minutes to reach the night guards at-"

"The balcony's facing the wrong direction." Parker chewed her lip, working out the problem and he groaned.

"I thought you had this figured out? Darlin' this is feeling an awful lot like doing it on the fly right about now." He followed her to the balcony railing and looked down. Jesus wept. He closed his eyes. Never could get used to it.

"Oh c'mon Eliot, aren't you having fun?" She slipped her arms about his waist and hugged him sweetly. Damn how could he be pissed when she had hair like a nest and lipstick all over? He sighed and patted her arm.

"Well, you solve your thing and I'll be seeing ya in a few." He walked back into the lounge and she followed him, working shit out in her head.

"Oh I already solved it." He looked down at her, and then at his waist and chest. How the fuck had she...

"Hell no. Hell to the no Parker I ain't-"

"No time Eliot, run!"

And then she grabbed his hand and charged at the balcony, and he went with her because they were now attached and not too would get her hurt and Jesus Christ she launched them off in complete sync turning as they reached the edge and grabbing him tight, chest to chest. Her smile was blinding. Eliot tried very hard not to notice in the all consuming rush that she linked the rail as they leapt it, and that her hands gripped his neck just so and her chest on his was soft and-

They were shooting head first off the Trump Tower, and she was swinging them round to try and hit the roof of Tiffany's.

Good. Freakin'. God.

Eyes open and on hers every second, he flew with her, promising himself that if they survived this, he was going to kill her. Oh yes he was.

The rush bled into his head and her eyes and smile filled his vision even as his body reacted with adrenalin pouring into every cell.

On the fly in fuckin' deed.

**PS: Apologies to the lovely Miss Teen USA for impugning her character ;) Sorry 'bout that!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Uhm...so let me know whatcha think, your reviews are appreciated xxx**

Parker had never felt a rush like it.

Eliot was a living breathing rock she wrapped herself too. Conscious of her extra counterweights, she hooked her feet around his legs, gripping him tight, linking him by more than carabiners and straps. They were one whole body, completely in sync as he unconsciously distributed his weight to allow her to steer them, trusting her implicitly despite being taken off guard, and thrown off a roof. His bulk allowed her to propel their momentum further, and as they arched downwards, ever downwards, she forced them out wide, so they were no longer simply falling,but flying. Her hair whipped at his face, and his eyes stayed on hers, and she saw the shock fade to thrill, then to acceptance. Eliot looked like a man ready to meet whatever rushed up to meet them, and it stretched her heart beyond endurance. His arms were around her waist, hers at his neck, their legs entwined, and Parker could not recall a jump ever feeling so good. So right.

It was the longest, shortest, scariest, safest jump of her life, because Eliot was with her, and even if they crashed into the side of Tiffany's which was a real possibility, in a flash she knew he would spin to take the impact. He just would. It's what he did.

A grin split her face and her cheeks stung as wind rushed at her, but the sound of New York below was a blur, her heart beat and the whistling sound of air buffeting and flowing filling her ears instead. She kissed him. A quick sweet press of her lips to his, in gratitude, in excitement, she wasn't really sure, just that in the moment, in the sweet exhilarating high of the jump, it seemed right. His eyes remained open, as her lips pulled away, her head and his staying close as the velocity forced them together, making independent movement hard. The muscle strain to meet his mouth was worth it. His eyes were dark and scorching on hers. Though she had not gone further than a peck, just a fleeting graze of mouths, heat swelled between them in the seconds after. She let it, in fact welcomed it. They could splat any second. Death followed you, she knew that, and life rolled on without you. Sometimes you just had to _do_.

The landing was not elegant. She managed to hit the target, having prepped her line for a roof jump gave her extra slack and leeway for error, but they hit hard and rolled, Eliot clinging to her and forcing her on top of him as he crashed into the floor when their feet and legs gave way at impact. You couldn't always land on your feet she thought, a little mad at herself, but still, they were in one piece. Relatively speaking.

Breathing hard, she took a second to stare up at the sky above and the building they had just plummeted from, laying on her back as Eliot eased her over, and laughed, utterly delighted that it had worked. Eliot was also breathing hard, but unhooked them and got to a crouching position first, leaning in his knuckles as he squeezed his eyes of the tears that the bracing air had forced from them. Her face was wet too, so she wiped the leaks away and got it together.

"You OK?" He asked as he sorted his aches out, running a hand across his shoulder blades and spine, and she knew the strain hurt. She nodded, reaching up to help him, but he moved away, just a fraction so she couldn't touch his shoulders. The kiss, she realised, feeling panicked. He was withdrawing from her. Oh crap.

"Are you kidding me? Best. Jump. Ever." She grinned and he hesitated before cracking a grin in return, laughing a little.

"Crazy doesn't do you justice Parker. C'mon let's go."

At the air duct, she told him the score, in hushed tones.

"Remember the Cartwright job?" He nodded, serious and focused. "Well it's like that but with four more floors and live guards."

"How many?" He retied his hair as he asked and she recalled his mouth under hers. "How many Parker?" Impatient as always. She wondered if he would ever talk about it. The kiss. Then knew he wouldn't. Hardison had. That fake make out, he had wanted to talk about right after it happened. This hadn't been a fake kiss. but a spontaneous act of ...affection. Yeah. Parker wasn't sure what that meant. Maybe it didn't need talk to put it in context. He was still waiting, watching.

"Five. All first floor, CCTV covers the rest." He nodded again, thoughtful now.

"So we run it like we did in Chicago and add that short-cut we needed in Dakota?" Parker nodded. Nice. She agreed, then smiled in recollection.

"Dakota was fun." As she recalled, Eliot had dispatched quite a few of the marks henchmen using a rolling pin at one point. He smiled in return.

"Yeah, yeah it was. But we can get all misty eyed after we've finished this little matter we are kinda in the middle of." He was concentrating, the kiss nothing but a memory, and probably not even that. Man she was feeling Hardison's pain suddenly. She wanted it bought up. Not sure to what end, but an acknowledgement would be nice. She needed to focus. Whatever Parker. Stop being such a, well, _girl._

"Right." Usually _she_ was all business. She blinked, this was her job. She ran the floor plans in her head, one last time, planning the quickest route to the alarm system and pictured the security of the shop floor. Totally do-able.

"Call it 9 minutes?" It wasn't really a question from Eliot as set his watch and Parker did the same. She was actually about to rob Tiffany's. It made her tingle. She mock saluted him, before dropping into the vent. He would need her to let him in, which she did in precisely 12.5 seconds. He looked impressed as he entered.

"Nice." She shrugged, indifferent to the praise.

"I've thought about this a lot."

He smiled in a pained way and shook his head. "Most girls dream about a ring from Tiffany's. Not you. You dream of its schematics. Crazy is as crazy does."

With another shake of his head, he vanished, and she knew he would rewire the camera footage. Looping should cover it. Patrols were harder to handle, but he had her back. Full of confidence, she got to work, and headed to the alarm system.

Four and a half minutes later, the guards were asleep, and the alarms disengaged and the outside world cut off. They owned Tiffany's. Sat cross legged on a glass cabinet however, Parker was frowning as Eliot swept in, having dealt with the guards as gently as he knew how. He didn't like hurting civilian security. He was funny like that. Unless they pointed guns at people with intent that is.

"What the hell you waitin' for?" He shrugged at her. She shrugged back.

"It doesn't feel right." She whispered it across the space, and he jogged up to meet her at the cabinet, his brow so creased she thought he may turn himself inside out.

"Feel right? Parker tell me we did not break in to Tiffany's for you to have a crisis of freakin' conscience. I did not fall 40 storeys for a scout badge darlin'."

"I don't know," she really was not sure what was going with her herself. Just that when she was about to start cutting glass, something stopped her. It seemed, well, wrong. "They didn't do anything bad." Eliot paused and sighed at that, before leaning next to her, arms crossed, surveying the store.

"Dammit Parker you let Nate get in your head. Dude has a way a doing that." He tapped the side of his own head, grimacing. "You still do your own jobs don't you? So what's the difference?"

"I guess, now we did it, it feels kinda tacky. We could empty this place you know."

"Yeah we could." A cocky, we did it grin from Eliot and they fist bumped. Parker smiled.

"But that would screw Rule Four right? Maybe it's the knowing we could that I needed. If we do this, it's just so I get more stuff." It wasn't satisfying. There was no big pay off. Art work? That enhanced your rep. Tiffany's had already been robbed back in 93. This wasn't new ground. Balls it was annoying.

"Stuff that translates into cash Parker." She made a whatever noise.

"I just keep looking at the sparkly stuff and...I feel empty." It bothered her a lot. "I got a bigger rush jumping you off the building next door than this case is giving me. Do you think I should just get into extreme sports as a career?"

Eliot looked at her, assessing whatever he saw carefully.

"Maybe you just need a reason now. That's all. Hey, do they profit from blood diamonds? That'd make it cool to-"

"Nah they're pretty solid. They're on the World Diamond Council and fight for Mining Reform." She said it in her mimicking voice and sighed, annoyed by Tiffany's ethical attitude.

"Well unless you wanna be caught for the crime we _didn't_ commit? We gotta go, but-" He looked about, concerned. Parker knew why."Leaving it like this is gonna cause issues."

"Yeah." Then Parker grinned as a new idea sprung to mind. "Hey Eliot?"

"What?"

"Give me a hand."

Every single cabinet was switched. Nothing remained as it had been. It satisfied a childish sense of mischief in Parker, to imagine the staff arriving in the morning to discover the entire collection had been scrambled. A $28,000 diamond encrusted watch now cost the same as a sterling silver Infinity ring, at $125 and vice versa. It was silly, but so satisfying.

Eliot grinned at her delight, and even signed a cabinet in marker pen, _Because we could, H & T_.

Now time ticked against them as they worked, with quick grins and experienced hands. When finished, Parker grabbed Eliot by throwing an arm about his shoulder and took a photo of them, head to head with their work behind them. Eliot allowed it, but was gone in an instant as soon as the cell snapped the picture. He shoved his hands in his pockets. She didn't regret not stealing anything. This? Nah, this was better.

It appealed to a sense of achievement in her beyond the thievery. The knowledge that she could also resist when she wanted. That she was in charge of the stealing, and not the other way around. A small, but important distinction, that had only raised its head on occasion before, but seemed to matter a great deal right now.

They exited the building with twenty seconds to spare.

Eliot didn't speak as they drove away, and Parker wondered if she should say something. Anything. But then decided against it. Confusing emotions bubbled up inside her as she watched his profile, and any words she could think of fell short of what ever it was she wanted to say.

"Thanks Eliot." That seemed safe enough. He glanced across at her, whilst she untied her hair from its knotted bun, and she felt his scrutiny, even as the adrenalin of the not quite a job wore off. His intent gaze increased the pumping of her blood weirdly, and for the first time, she felt truly nervous in his presence. Not because she really wasn't sure what he might do, but because she wasn't sure what she wanted him to do. Which was dumb.

"You're welcome Parker." Cool, his reply was very cool. She shifted in her seat. They drove by Radio City Music Hall, and memories of a delinquent childhood on New York's streets flooded her. They really weren't all bad. Apart from meeting Archie, and the X's, she had ran wild in this city for a long time. It was a big bad city and that had suited her well for a while.

Curling up in the seat, and slipping her shoes off, she rested her head on the head rest and watched him as he drove. She felt peaceful as the quiet of New York's early morning sped by, the folks in SoHo drinking coffee and still selling a kind a wares that didn't have a closing time, and she yawned, relaxed.

"Why don't you get some shut eye Parker? We got a long ways to go yet." Eliot's voice was low and she nodded, even as her eyes refused to open again. Sounded like a great idea.

"Wake me up when it's my turn Eliot."

"I will Parker. I will." He sounded tired too Parker thought as she drifted off.

Eliot pulled in at a gas station near Hoboken after the Holland Tunnel and topped up the tank and bought a coffee. He considered waking Parker, the dismissed the idea. She was out like a light, all curled up like a cat. A blonde pretty cat. He sighed and leant on the side of the truck a spell, as the dawn began its journey across the sky.

That kiss. _Damn_ that kiss. It played over and over in his mind. Man it was...well, it had been, just...Shit he had no idea how to define it. Had it been the fact that adrenalin was already pounding through his veins from the jump that made it hit so hard? That made it burn, her lips on his? that made him want to open his mouth and kiss the hell out of her as they flew through New York's skyline? Guilt clogged him up. Hardison. So far away, but right here at the same time. Parker had given no indication that it meant more than a burst of gleeful excitement during the moment. And it had been chaste after all, a peck, though the pressure of her lips on his had felt like a whole lot more. At least to him. Which made him all kinds of fool. He needed to get his shit together with this deal. Even if it had meant something more to Parker, what of it anyhow? Hardison was a good guy. Eliot may be a no good son of a bitch but he didn't mess with people he cared about. Any one else, well, he had been less than discriminate on occasion, but this? He wasn't this guy.

But he really wanted to be. Which was fucked up.

He bought another gallon of coffee and more snacks for when Parker woke up, knowing she'd want to eat. He'd wrapped the second plate of pancakes and put them in his bag too. Why he'd done that he had no clue either. It was worryingly thoughtful. Damn it. She was gettin' under his skin. And he couldn't undo that. but he could put a stop to it. Had to. Back on the road, he got on the New Jersey turnpike, turning up the radio to help him keep awake, needing the distraction from the thoughts the girl beside him had triggered. The items in his pocket mocked him. Crap. This was getting all kinds of messed up.

Dawn was streaking across the sky now, prepping the way for the sun, and the grey of night gave way to white and pink and mauve, with orange gold cresting the horizon. Another reason he had wanted to drive had been for this. The moments of wonder you only got when you were driving some place at hours no one else did. The Newark Bay gleamed in the distance, and the sight of water soothed him, as a song began on the radio he had heard before but never really listened to. Had a good chorus, kinda uplifting so he turned up the volume and settled back, an elbow on the window letting music and the dawn take him away. Then found his eyes drawn to Parker as the words lingered in the truck, light hitting the windscreen and her hair shining like white gold.

Time waits for no one,  
>So do you want to waste some time,<br>Oh, oh tonight?  
>Don't be afraid of tomorrow,<br>Just take my hand, I'll make it feel so much better tonight

He glanced at her, the night and all that had happened replaying in his mind.

Suddenly my eyes are open,  
>Everything comes into focus, oh,<br>We are all illuminated,  
>Lights are shining on our faces, blinding<p>

Damn it, everything was about Parker now? Yet the lyrics hit him hard, and he swallowed, blinking as he reached the Newark Bay Bridge.

Swing me these sorrows,  
>And try delusion for a while,<br>It's such a beautiful night,  
>You've got to lose inhibition,<br>Romance your ego for a while,  
>Come on, give it a try<p>

Oh man he was in over his head on this trip. That kiss, had she lost her inhibitions? The girl he had been pretty sure didn't have any? Steel glinted bright and he tried to concentrate, but the water was hypnotic and the sky was stunning, and Parker, crazy Parker was lit up from within every time he glanced at her. Which was a lot.

Suddenly my eyes are open,  
>Everything comes into focus, oh,<br>We are all illuminated,  
>Lights are shining on our faces, blinding <p>

He started humming, then the words made so much sense he was singing along, tapping the steering wheel and ignoring something obvious because he wasn't prepared to do otherwise. Ever. Nope. But damn it was so clear, beneath the streaky New York morning sky, and he hated his own sorry ass for being such a schmuck. yet he sang the last lines anyway, hoarsely, trying not to wake her. Idiot.

Suddenly my eyes are open,  
>Everything comes into focus, oh,<br>We are all illuminated,  
>Lights are shining on our faces, blinding<br>...

The sooner this weekend was over the better. For everybody. And beyond that? Eliot was a realist. If shit got complicated, he wasn't contracted to stay for Gods sake. Like he needed the hassle?

Maybe Croatia needed liberating again. Or some damn place a million miles away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**You guys are so brilliant for reading and reviewing. **

**:)**

**Thank You!**

"No."

"Eliot, you know if this was my spiritual home? You know where yours would be? A town called Malice." He took his eyes off the sun drenched road, and glanced at the irate thief.

"You know Paul Weller?"

"Who the hell is that the mayor?" Man she was pissed off, and her face a little creased from sleeping on a rolled up pillow. Eliot tried his best to concentrate on her demanding nature, and not on how adorable she looked all sleep mussed.

"No he was in The Jam-ah, know what? Forget it." He wondered why he bothered he really did.

"Jam? Seriously Eliot? Choc-o-late. Hershey is _chocolate_ town. Not that I'm ever gonna know for sure since you won't take a measly five minute freakin' detour!" She threw her whole body into folding her arms in temper and he was almost certain the truck shook. Which was ridiculous since she weighed like, nothing. Or it had felt like nothing plastered against him as they flew through the night sky. Not that he was ever thinking about that again. Ever.

"Parker it's six o'clock in the morning. We got another six hours of driving. I wanna be there before dark or you know, the freakin' vows get made. If that's OK with you?"

"Well if it's all about you, then fine. Rob a girl of her childhood dream. Wait, doesn't that break Rule Four?" She put a finger to her mouth tapping thoughtfully, eyes all squinty.

"Oh, what, we off bucket lists and onto childhood dreams now? Gimme a break Parker. Did I or did I not plummet to near death and break into Tiffany's for you already?" It occurred to Eliot that that sounded awfully like a negotiating tack as opposed the flat out no of before. Ah crap.

"That was yesterday. Today is a whole new thing." Like that should be obvious.

"It was today Parker. Like three and a half hours ago." Oh God he needed more coffee. Way more coffee. And maybe some duct tape.

"We crossed a state line and I slept through it. It's a new day." Spoken as if it was written in the constitution. Eliot was pretty sure she had her own unique copy somewhere.

"Since when was that a-"

"Everybody knows that's the rule Eliot." Airily, she turned up her nose and looked out the window, and he was defeated against such asinine logic.

"Parker." He growled.

"Eliot." She eye rolled.

"Fine! God damn it fine." He glanced in the mirror and did a U Turn violently enough that Parker bounced in her seat. It gave him a guilty satisfaction. Then guilt won pure and simple. "You all right?"

"Are we going to chocolate town?"

"It's called Hershey. Hershey. And yeah, I'll drive through, so shut your yapping."

"Yay!" She went to clap then stopped, since she could possibly, despite her almost legendary inability to read people, sense he was mad. "I'll buy you a Hershey Bar."

"We could do that at the friggin' gas station!" He blew off his frustration in the bellow. She cocked her head considering his point.

"But Hershey Bars from Hershey are fresher right?" At that he gave up.

The scent of baked chocolate hit them hard on approach, and Parker's eyes almost popped from her head. She looked like a kid on vacation at Disney Land. A weird thought crossed his mind as she hung her head out the window, gulping in the air like it was actual chocolate.

"Parker?"

"Mmm hhhmm?"

"You ever been on vacation before?" He watched her process the question as he turned off a side road and took the signs to Hershey. Five minute detour my ass. So close to Harrisburg. So damn close.

"I don't understand." She looked at him, hair loose and blowing in the morning dry wind. It was gonna be a stupidly hot day. Which he would now be driving for most off apparently. The sweet scented air was enough to make him hungry.

"A holiday. You know, no work. Have you ever been anywhere just for fun?"

"I went to Paris for fun."

"Without stealing from the Louvre?"

"Well, no. That was the fun." She looked at him, and he looked back. Back away Eliot. Rule Three Eliot. He ignored his internal warning system.

"We wasted our visit in New York then did we?" His voice dropped as he asked, and he wanted to call back the question, wondering what the hell he was doing. Playing with fire. Actually no, Parker was more akin to a nuclear bomb.

"That was different. " She shifted her eyes, uncomfortable, and he felt like a dick, but a satisfied one. His hands re-gripped the wheel. Hardison should have taken her to his damn convention. Should have taken her out, shown her a good time whilst they had the opportunity. Man that boy needed a talking to.

"How was it different?" Eliot was pretty sure he hadn't asked that, but there the words were, in the air, loud and clear for anyone to hear. Fuck. He was playing with the blue and red wire's here.

"This is a road trip with rules. You said so." She looked perturbed for all of three seconds before her eyes widened and she pointed past his shoulder. "There it is! It has an amusement park did you know that?"

"No I did not." Eliot sighed, and pushed the falling locks of his pony tail from his forehead. Hot and humid in Hershey, home of chocolate, USA. Wonderful.

She made him drive up Chocolate Avenue, and got out of the car at the junction of Cocoa and Chocolate to take a picture of the Hershey Kiss shaped lights . This from a woman who had untold works of art no doubt in storage all over the world. He shook his head. She really was nuts. He gave in to her demand to have their picture taken with the two signposts above their heads by some poor guy just walking his dog. Eliot wondered how the hell he had gone from a straight forward drive cross country to a wedding, to the Parker sight seeing tour of America. But she was beaming. And he figured a happy Parker was a calmer Parker.

Until she saw the Zoo.

"Its closed Parker." She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"We beat a Steranko Eliot, I think the bird enclosure is within our range."

"You wanna break into a zoo? At six o-no, twenty past six on a Saturday morning. In Hershey."

"Don't you?"

Damn it. He really did.

He parked up close by, eyeing the mono rail straddling the zoo and whistled.

"Sweet ride they got." The morning sun was warming up fast and he wore a tee shirt and jeans, having lost the shirt a couple of hours back. Parker was still all in black, but appeared unfrazzled by the heat. She was always cool like that, just hot as hell in temper most times. Now she gave him her best big eyes glance.

"Maybe on our way back we can-"

"One time deal Parker, do not push me." She acquiesced prettily. He would bet good money Hardison could not handle full on Parker. Then felt petty for thinking it, and he did not like feeling petty. Yet he stood by his assessment as he watched the blonde thief sneak beside him, lithe and bright eyed despite the hour.

They scaled the wall and dropped into the zoo beside the barn owl enclosure, skirting the health centre and the few staff on duty easily. They really were good at this. To be fair, the zoo was vast and the cameras not hard to spot.

"C'mon." She led the way down one of the main thoroughfares toward a sheltered exhibit called The Great Southwest. Eliot kept low, and ducked them from sight as a guy walked by with buckets of feed. Glancing down at Parker in the shrubbery, he smirked when she dangled the guys keys at him.

She was very good, he had to admit. Crazy as hell, but very very good.

It took her two keys to find the right one, and she let them into the exhibit quick, tugging him into the dark. She took his hand since it was all but pitch black, and he wanted to slip his hand away, but couldn't think of a good enough reason. Even they couldn't see in the dark after all.

Coming up on a glass enclosure, Parker whispered at him.

"What's in here?" She got up close to the glass, peering inside, her shadow barely visible.

He shrugged, then realised she couldn't see him. Reaching along the wall beside the exhibit, he found a switch, and lights in the ceiling flickered to life. He shrank back. It was a large cave. caves were never a good thing in his experience. Using the light from inside the enclosure he scanned the wall for information, then shuddered involuntarily as Parker began to coo. Freakin' coo.

"Bats." He wasn't a fan of flying rats. Then he read on.

"Bats!" Parker was, if her softly awed tone were a sign.

"Jesus Parker, Common Vampire Bats? Are you shittin' me?"

"What's wrong?" She stroked the glass and black shapes flew at her, reacting to the vibrations.

"Parker, I don't even know what's the worse thing about this animal. That it has Vampire in its name or that that is preceded by Common. That's just plain wrong darlin'."

She took a snap on her cell of her smiling with a bat clinging to the glass beside her. Hardison would not be happy when he skimmed her pics.

"They aren't indigenous to the USA so relax Van Helsing. Did you know that the bat is the only mammal that can truly fly Eliot? Isn't that awesome?"

"Totally. Now c'mon."

"Oh wait! What's that?" She was gone. Eliot lingered a moment or two, gazing at the bat enclosure, a 100% certain he was being weighed up a potential blood bag, then followed. At a jog.

"Parker?" He hissed, unsure of her location when a hand caught his and tugged him to another enclosure.

Now this he could appreciate.

The Ocelot. Accustomed to the dim light now, and benefiting marginally from the lamps in the bat cave, Eliot could make out a small sleek shape at the back of the enclosure. Parker had crouched down, watching with rapt eyes, intent on the creature beyond the glass, in amongst the thick branches and foliage.

"I thought you were scared of animals?" He crouched down beside her, and understood why, since she was almost on eye level with the shy cat. Huge unblinking eyes stared back.

"Only the murderous ones." She whispered, not moving her head a fraction.

"Yeah and Vampire bats sound friendly?"

She snorted. "Shut up. Like it would even want my blood. Fruit bats maybe. I'm all sugar."

"Yeah." He was so tempted to make a lame joke out of that, he stood. Time to go.

"Wait look," she pointed gingerly and he turned to see the Ocelot creeping forward stealthily. It was gorgeous, it's pattern distinctive even in the gloom, it's feline face utterly fierce and beautiful all at once. A moment descended upon the scene, where none dared breathe lest they break the spell.

"Quick," Parker dragged him down and grabbed his neck to take a snap of them with the Ocelot behind them. Lightning fast.

"That'll never come out Parker. No flash." He felt her shrug next to him.

"So. I'll know what it was of." Somehow he understood completely.

"Can't argue with that. Let's go, I got a wedding to get to Parker, in case you'd forgotten?"

"About that," she began, as they snuck back out of the enclosure and locked it up behind them. Ah, he thought, she was finally going to ask. Like a sane person. It made him think there was hope for her after all. They crept along the shrubbery toward the outer wall silently. At the animal health centre, she threw the keys through a cracked window then they ran for it, before jumping the wall, out of breath when they eventually reached the truck.

"What about it Parker?" He held his side, feeling a stitch after sitting driving so long before a bout of activity. she didn't ask what he was talking about. She picked the conversation right up again.

"Don't forget I need to stop for a dress." He tucked an errant strand of hair from her face behind her ear, then checked himself. She didn't appear to notice anything untoward in the action. He swallowed.

"Sure." Wounded beyond measure that she could still be so uninterested, he got in the passenger side. "You're driving. Head to Harrisburg and then take the I-81 south."

"Cool." She settled in the drivers seat and tweaked the chair so her feet would fit. He hadn't noticed her do that before. She had put it back though, because it had been in his position when he sat in it next. "Bye Hershey! Thanks for feeding me all these years!"

She actually waved.

"Parker?"

"Yeah? Hey thanks Eliot. That was awesome. Did you see that Ocelot? Did you know its one of the only cats to have all three types of marking on it? Rosette, spots and stripes. Very distinctive. Isn't that your thing? Stuff like that?" She glanced over as she drove back up to the Interstate, and he bit his tongue.

The "There's something wrong with you" he had been about to say seemed redundant now.

"Is that so? Well you live and learn huh?" She nodded happily, sniffing in the scent as they left the chocolate air space behind.

Eliot closed his eyes and let the sun on his face warm him up, cool sweat forming at his brow after their getaway at the zoo.

Parker was glowing at the wheel, and grabbed a juice from the cooler he had picked up at the last gas station. She tossed a carton into his lap, and he pierced it and drank it in silence.

"Hey Eliot?"

"Yeah?" God knows what now, so he braced himself for anything.

"Is it OK if I use your road trip as a vacation? If we aren't stealing or working then that's what its is right? Or have we broken the rules by breaking in to places?" She frowned as she sucked on a straw from a juice box, anxious about his response, he could tell by the way her eyes flicked to him over and over, and thinking on the breaking in versus stealing issue like it was a philosophical debate worth having. Her words touched him in an unbearably raw place.

He cleared his throat before answering.

"I guess I could live with that. And don't worry on the rules. When you've broke 'em I'll tell ya."

Eliot knew no matter what was said or done for the rest of the weekend , he wouldn't be telling her shit about those rules.

"Hey Parker?" She glanced over, eyes a little puffy, all that hanging out the window like a damn Labrador. He winced as his neck cracked on the head rest. Man he needed his 90 minutes in a bed after this.

"What?"

"Put some music on would ya? I can hear myself think and I don't like it."

She switched the radio back on with a slight smile. He grumbled to himself.

"Where to on the I-81 Eliot?"

"Hagerstown then the 68 to Morgantown. A long ass way. Probably shoulda got a plane after all." He yawned, and let his head dip at the back of his seat under the warm kiss if the early sun.

"I'm glad you didn't." Parker's quiet admission from the drivers seat registered with him just as he fell to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Reviews are love. So thank you!**

Parker was on a mission.

Dog Days Are Over played on the radio, requested by some lady called Betty in Boiling Springs as her early morning wake up call. Parker approved. She smacked the wheel as the chorus thundered, the clapping anthem imbuing her with a wealth of positivity. She smiled as she saw Eliot sleep in the seat beside her, his hair a mess and his face oddly innocent in repose. Today was going to rock.

She knew it already.

Making sure Eliot was definitely asleep, since he was sneaky like that, she pulled the radio scanner from the dash, and hooked it up. Time to save him a little time.

It took a few minutes to find the right frequency, but she listened in on the exchanges before confirming she had it. She listened to the woman talking saying she was going for a break to the guy she passed the unit on to. Good. Now then, what to do. A few more seconds and she had it.

"This is Dispatch, calling all cars available to Mercersburg. Repeat all cars to Mercersburg. We have reports of a UFO landing, and sweetie pies, I know they probably been at the apple wine again, but we're getting a heads up that Homeland are en-route and folk are stripping the site? I tell ya. Probably a damn weather balloon am I right? If some of you boys could mosey on down there and keep them all sane I'd sure appreciate it. I'm gettin' feedback too so boys if you could switch to the beta frequency you'd all make my day."

A barrage of on it's and yes ma'ams filled the cab, and Parker winced at the noise but Eliot remained asleep. Or in a Universal Soldiers state of automated recovery. Whatever. Hardison was convinced Eliot was a government project. A last, will do ma'am, and the frequency went quiet. Since she had rendered them incommunicado for about ten minutes before dispatch switched frequency's to find all their troopers, she hoped it was worth it.

Parker wished she could share how great she mimicked the dispatcher called Glenda but satisfied herself with the result. A state trooper roared past her.

And Parker gave him a few seconds to get off the highway, before flooring it, free and clear all the way to Hagerstown. She almost yippee'd as her hair caught in the wind streaming through her window, and she closed Eliot's halfway, not wanting him woken by the buffeting breeze stirred as she hit 120 plus.

For once she prayed the skies were clear. If Eliot knew she was taking such a risk he would lose it. Thinking about Eliot's reaction made her ease off the gas, then she remembered his face in the gloom near the bat enclosure. So she reached over and snapped his seat belt on instead.

She reached Hagerstown in 45 minutes.

Unbearably hot as she pulled up at a gas station, she rummaged in her bag for the tee shirt she wore the day before. Inside her bag was a wrapped parcel of the Plaza' pancakes. Startled, she looked at Eliot and had a strange urge to stroke his forehead. He had saved them for her. Ripping open the wrap she began to munch on a warm pancake, as she wrapped the rest and shoved them in the cooler. She studied Eliot again as she switched tops. He was all long legs and solid chest in the seat, and his arms were folded, the hair on his arms thick and bizarrely, she wanted to rub against him. It made her tummy flip thinking about his arms around her. Like on the terrace. Except she found her imagination removing awkward impediments like clothing from the scenario. She had gotten quite a way with that before realising how inappropriate it was. She checked her cell. No messages.

She used the rest-room then got back on the road, looking for signs to Morgantown , heading west on the I-68.

It was worrying that she hadn't thought about Hardison in a particular way for awhile. Not that she thought about naked scenarios with him much really. She liked his company and he was easy going and easy to bait. He reminded her of kids she had known in foster care. The good ones, who just got on with it. He wasn't damaged at all by it on the surface, but then, he had Nana, she figured. The lovely Nana. Mrs X had been nice but way too late to the party to stop Parker becoming what she was.

Hardison had been saved in time, she reasoned, her head aching with the tug and pull of her thoughts. Or maybe he just hadn't been that damaged to start? He was a verbose guy, always talking, always filtering the world through how shit affected him. Not in a bad way, in a problem solving way. He did whine sometimes, but Nate had kinda bullied that out of him. He didn't scare her in any way. And she knew he cared. Knew he found her attractive. It made things simple.

But did she want simple? Nate and Sophie were a nightmare, but when it was all good, they were like two halves of the same coin. A fucked up coin you couldn't spend in any country on the planet, but still. They were messy but real. Were her and Hardison easy and fake? That felt disloyal, so she stopped thinking about it, not sure where those ideas were leading anyway. A glance at Eliot called her a liar, but she went with the lie. It was easier.

The I-68 proved trickier to scam, but luckily she found a pair of handcuffs in the truck and Eliot's Air Marshall badge in the dash when she got pulled over. Apparently it was less in the badge details and more in the aviation shades she yanked from Eliot's visor and the swagger she affected. She made like he did on flights and even gave them her version of the death stare when her credentials were queried on account of her being a woman. Some quick thinking got her a pass and also a drive through along the highway once the state troopers put out the news that a Marshall was transporting a prisoner to a private flight out of Morgantown Municipal Airport. Turns out she had learnt stuff from Sophie after all. Being a woman in authority was a sweet deal she decided as she passed a troop car with a wave at top speed.

Life could rock sometimes. Who knew Morgantown even had an airfield? The officer had been kind enough to fill in the Municipal part when she stalled. Eliot wouldn't be impressed if he woke up to find himself cuffed to the seat, but hey, they had a wedding to get to right? Parker smiled, as the miles sped by. Yeah, life was good.

They reached Morgantown just after nine. It was a busy city. Clean and neat and bustling. Parker wasn't sure if she liked it or not. It had a farmers market. She wasn't sure what to make of that either. Driving through the city to Downtown, Parker watched as folks said good morning and bought coffee and papers when walking the dog. Shops were opening up and the city switching on.

She wanted to get in and out. If she could do that without waking Eliot, well all the better. This was not something she was comfortable with at all.

Parking up near a coffee shop, Parker unlocked the cuffs in case Eliot woke up and grabbed some of the cash he had left her for gas. He had decided that leaving it in the glove box was a better option than her assurance she could get it from his pocket if required. Spoilsport.

Grabbing a coffee and a Danish from the adorably friendly Jinny at the coffee shop, Parker got the heads up on a place down the block and with a last glance at Eliot, made her way to the store, chewing the Danish like it was her last meal. This was gonna be awkward as hell. At least she had gotten them here in good time. She hoped Eliot's record breaking nap continued, since she did not want him to witness the car crash about to happen. He had dated a lot of models after all. Whatever.

The shop owner, a Miss Camellia Brown, was super excited to assist Parker, who would have preferred to pick up a plain dress in her size and vanished. But no. She had worn dresses on cons, borrowed some of Sophie's stuff on occasion but it was a rare thing, since she needed clothes that fit with the whole, crawling through air-ducts and handstands into offices from the vents. Flashing her underwear couldn't really be a major concern on the job. And she had never picked her own dress before. For a real event. Eliot's real wedding, meant a real dress. It made her sweat.

"You go and get undressed dear and I'll pass things through. Go on." Miss Camellia shooed her into the dressing room when Parker's feet remained planted. In two minds about it, Parker finally caved. Quicker she gave in, the quicker she could leave right?

Stripping in the dressing room made her anxious. It was a weird feeling, standing in a shop in her underwear, just waiting. Usually she ripped clothes off in order to make a fast switch on a job. This was different. She didn't like it at all.

"Miss Brown? Are you done yet because-" Her call was cut short as a pile of dresses appeared over the dressing room door. "Never mind." Miss Camellia had guessed her size easily. Parker was impressed, for an old lady the woman had skills.

"Now try them on and come out to show me if you aren't sure." Parker grimaced, she wasn't sure about anything right now, should she go talk to Miss Camellia in her underwear? No. Even Parker knew that was inappropriate.

"OK." She tried on three dresses in quick succession and hated them all. Too tight, too gaudy, too short. Oh man she was really starting to perspire, her hair sticking to her shoulders as she scrambled in and out of dresses. The door chimed and Parker sighed in relief, happy that Miss Brown's attentions would be distracted whilst she made a swift exit. This was all going wrong. But the next dress was real pretty, and when she slipped it on, the skirt fell just to her knees and flared out, like a dress from the fifties. If she spun about it lifted to reveal a couple of underskirts in a pale shade of green to compliment the deep turquoise of the dress itself. Parker liked the secret underskirts. She liked the way it felt on. The bodice was fitted but not tight, with a square neckline that exposed her collar bone and just a hint of skin at her chest. Small cap sleeves looked pretty the way they puffed out and Parker wanted to wear it all day long. Tiny white flowers were sewn into the drop and edging of the skirt and the sleeves, and at the neckline, breaking up the deep bright colour.

"Miss Brown could you give me a hand?" The dress was buttoned up the back, and though she was confidant it fit, she needed to have the last few buttons done up to make sure. She turned her exposed back to the door and lifted her hair. Waiting.

The knuckles that brushed her skin were definitely not Miss Brown's. _Eliot._ Her throat tightened inexplicably as air was sucked from her lungs. He fastened each button slowly, his fingers hot on her skin as they skimmed her spine, and Parker breathed deep, as his touch seemed to heighten the sensitivity of her newly tingling flesh with each button. She had never realised how raw another persons skin on yours could feel. Somehow Eliot's fingers turned the simple act of buttoning up her dress into a whole new experience. Into something achingly appealing.

"Thanks." Quiet, and feeling ashamed of her bodies treacherous behaviour as it hummed in the aftermath of his touch, she let her hair fall. Eliot's hand hesitated at her back, and his knuckles traced the line of her spine from her neck to the edging of the dress for one exquisite taut moment. Then his palm, flat at her back on the now buttoned fabric, patting her lightly, as if shaking off the earlier charged connection.

"Nice dress Parker." His voice was hoarse, and she glanced over her shoulder, shyly, wondering if it had affected him in a similar way, then dismissing the notion. Eliot had dated a lot of models and undone a lot of dresses in his time. It was a dangerous idea to go imagining more from him. He hadn't even mentioned the kiss. However sweet he had been on this trip, he was Eliot, and would never-

"Oh good you found her," Miss Camellia interrupted the thought, and Parker was grateful. Her head was a mess and her body all kinds of wobbly. The store owner put her hands together and then made a spinning motion with them, so Parker obliged, avoiding Eliot's eyes as she did it.

"Oh well you look as pretty as a picture! Doesn't she?" Miss Camellia glanced at Eliot expectantly, who looked lost in thought, a frown on his face. He started and caught Parker's eyes before turning to the dainty elderly lady.

"She's beautiful." He said it like he would say the sky was blue, as if it were a fact, irrefutably true.

Parker felt her skin glow, as her heart hammered at her ribs. She found herself unable to look up from the floor and Miss Camellia giggled as she glanced between the two of them.

"Oh well aren't you both adorable?" Eliot winced at that, and Parker smiled. "I suggest you go down the street to Hubbard's, the shoe store. They should be able to find you something in a pump that would-"

"I want boots." Parker wanted boots. She didn't want dainty shoes. She felt panicked at the thought, recalling a disastrous attempt at wearing heels with people watching that she had no desire to repeat, even if it had been for a job.

"Well, I suppose...he carries all kinds, you'll be fine." Miss Camellia left them to it.

Eliot didn't move, and Parker realised she was going to have to ask a favour again, since she still couldn't reach her own back.

"Eliot could you-"

"What? Oh right, sure, no problem." She lifted her hair and this time felt the hair on her nape stand as he stepped closer, feeling stretched and wired like a bomb ready to blow, Parker tried to calm down. It was just Eliot. She had changed in front of him before. Hell, Hardison had done her zipper once too. But this surpassed all that, this feeling of anticipation as his hands hovered over her skin, and she bit her lip, willing herself not to say anything stupid. like she wished he was half naked again. She wished his bare torso was skimming her back along with his hands. Oh God. Why was she a sex fiend all of a sudden? Lack of cereal she figured, knowing it was a lie.

Damn he took his time on the buttons. As each one undid, his fingers grazed her skin, a little lower, a little longer, until neither of them really moved, as her back was exposed once more to the changing room. She watched the mirror, but could only see his arms and the top of his bent head behind her, and she focused on the arms, willing herself to remain standing as he managed to make the practical act as intimate as humanly possible. As the last button opened, she caught the bodice in her hands to ensure it stayed on her chest and span to face him, not entirely sure what she wanted to find.

He was watching her with smoky eyes and a predator still expression. It was hot as hell. And so very wrong. So very wrong.

"Is there a reason you handcuffed me to my seat Parker?" Ahh, that explained it then. He was just pissed off. She feigned ignorance.

"Sorry?" She busied herself with the dress, shooing him out so she could finish getting out of it.

"Any explanation on how we managed a three and a half hour journey in just over two and a half?"

"Maybe I was driving the way the earth was spinning? I heard that helps. Yeah. OK." She closed the door on him and took a second to get it together.

"Parker." He growled from beyond the door, but it wasn't his usual growl. It sounded...well, like an invitation. She shook that idea away. Invitation to what? The whole backing off conversation sprung to mind once more, as it had a lot the past few weeks, and she yanked on her jeans, disturbed. She poked her head from behind the door to see him standing there, eyes on the other shoppers, eyes on the street, ever careful. Ever guarded.

"I may have used your Air Marshall badge and claimed you were a prisoner I was escorting to the Morgantown Airport. Possibly. So I'll get this and we'll-"

Eliot was focusing on the earlier part of her statement.

"Wait, what? How did that even-why would they-"

She pulled on his aviation shades she had tucked into her tee and looked at him over the rim, giving him the death stare she had rocked with the troopers. He grinned, and it lit his face. Definitely handsome. She ignored the traitorous thought.

"You are one dangerous lady Parker. C'mon." He held her elbow as she left the dressing room, escorting her to the counter where the Miss Camellia wrapped the dress up and waved away the cash she tried to hand over.

"Oh your young man already paid." Eliot raised his eyebrows at her and pressed his mouth together, like, what? Parker could think of no good reason to dissuade the lady that he wasn't her young man.

"Oh. Well thanks." Parker left the store confused. She tried to give him the gas money back. He refused it.

"But it's yours anyway. And I owe you for the dress."

"Forget it, let's get you those boots then hit the road. My turn to drive." Eliot led the way, with his hand on the small of her back as they navigated a side-walk getting busier and busier. Parker liked how he didn't try and talk her out of buying boots and into buying something a bit more weddingy. He didn't even flinch when she opted for a pair of black suede mid calf boots with tassels all over. He just shrugged and paid at the counter when she waggled her feet at him. Maybe she could understand why girls liked shoes so much, she thought, as she followed Eliot back to the truck, him carrying her new things. It was nice, this shopping lark. And for a thief, that was a major breakthrough.

"Wait here." He told her as she got in the passenger side. he leaned in, forearms on the frame, his clever hands hanging loose."I gotta take a leak and grab a coffee, you want one?" She shook her head, feeling guilty that he was being as kind as Eliot could be whilst she was thinking wicked thoughts about him. Naked. She needed to stop it.

"Cool, back in five." He tapped the truck as he headed off, and she twisted round, wondering why the hell he wasn't going to get a coffee at Jinny's like she had. But he had vanished before she got the chance. Closing her eyes and resting back in her seat, Parker toyed with her cell, knowing she had to do something, but not exactly clear on the what yet.

A text came through, and she mused before opening it, unwilling to break the spell of the truck, and her and Eliot's road trip, to let the outside world in. Tying her hair in a top high ponytail, she put his shades back on, and drummed on the dash, before guilt made her click view.

After reading, Parker sat and stared into the street ahead, then typed a few words in reply. Send.

The reply was instant. She snapped the cell shut, as if closing a door, and in a way, she was. Thinking hard, she wondered if she was right. Another text and she had to open it, a smile on her face. The text was pure Hardison, but concise in meaning. Well. That changed everything. Tears pricked her eyes for no reason as guilt flooded her, and she dashed them away angrily. Confused by the wealth of emotion Hardison's text had triggered, and overwhelmed by her physical attraction to Eliot that was getting really distracting, Parker sighed, and ignored the lump in her throat.

Eliot arrived back a few minutes after, out of breath. Climbing in, he glanced at her face and frowned.

"You OK Parker?" Genuine concern. It stung deeply for some reason.

"Totally." She looked out the window as Morgantown sped by, unaware that Eliot was frowning her way.

That, Eliot thought sharply, was the piñata voice again. And he didn't like it.


	14. Chapter 14

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Parker had not spoken for an hour and a half.

This should be cause for celebration for Eliot, since it gave him peace to just drive south, listen to country and take in the view.

Except the silence was scraping on his last nerve and he wanted a distraction from the never ending road and the monotonous spectacular scenery as they drove past protected reserves of land. He had thought the amazing panorama would never get old. Yet he was hankering for blonde hair and a devilish smile instead. Man he had screwed up. It was obviously because of what he did in the dressing room of that store.

Not that he did anything. Not really. I mean, she was all touchable and gorgeous as always, and maybe he had taken advantage of the situation. But he had not intended to. Not at all. Damn, Eliot couldn't even convince himself. One look at her naked back and he had had to restrain the urge in every cell of his body to shut the door on the stall and rip that freakin' dress off of her, buttons be damned. Her skin was like vanilla, and her hair shimmered with hints of gold and that colour just made her look like a sexy ass sprite or some shit and oh lord he was in trouble. Even her eyes glowed when she peeked over her shoulder, the turquoise enhancing the multi-coloured gems and lightening them a shade, giving her an ethereal like quality. Very other worldly.

His hands slipped on the wheel and he paid renewed attention to his actions. He was losing it man.

From the corner of his eye he could see her cell spinning endlessly in her hand, and the cell symbolised all the reasons, well, the one very significant reason that his thoughts were straying into territory he had no right for them to. Hardison. Her boyfriend. His friend. His colleague. Even as he felt guilty in regards to the hacker, he resented him too. He should have taken Parker with him. That's what normal couples did. Went places together. Instead, he had asked Eliot to play babysitter for a grown ass woman, as if that were appropriate. As if he weren't a guy who saw Parker as an alluring female just because he called her on her crazy shit. Did Hardison think Eliot was not attracted to Parker? That made him pause. Did the team really think he saw her as a little sister the way they figured she viewed him as an older brother? He supposed that could be the impression he gave off. But what else could he do? How else was he supposed to freakin' act around her when her and H had a thing going? They had grown comfortable with each other on their own terms, reached an understanding and level of trust that maybe the team just hadn't seen. Or hadn't wanted to see. Oh man he was being a chump. Getting mad at everybody and everything because of his own failings. It wasn't Hardison's or Nate's or Sophie's fault.

They weren't aware of the midnight snack visits, or that he and Parker had been forced to face the darkness within that had forged survivors from them on that damn mountain. It was him she went to when she wanted to learn, it was him who teamed up with her on jobs because he always had her back and knew she would have his damn it. They shared a unique connection that made working together easy. He guessed that was why he had half woken in the truck and realised his hands were cuffed only to fall back to sleep. Because Parker was at the wheel, and for all her strangeness, he trusted her to get the job done. So he had simply filed the query away to ask later and let sleep take him.

Eliot was pretty sure his nap was the longest he had managed in a very long time too, and wondered about that. His mind worked overtime usually, and he had so much to do that sleep was just another thing to tick off a list of chores he set himself each day. In the truck, without those tasks, exhaustion had finally bit, and he felt the benefit of the longer rest keenly. His mind was sharper, his eyes brighter and the wound on his arm ached less. Maybe he needed to be exhausted to give in to it he reasoned, and Parker had managed to wear him out where others had tried and failed. It had been one hell of a night after all. An alternative method for Parker wearing him out sprang far too quickly to mind and he pushed the mental images away. Ass hole.

Her silence was acute and it pierced him somewhere deep. What did he want anyhow? Parker to fall for him? How dumb would that be? To what end? She was not a woman into games of this sort, and he was pissed about infecting her with his own selfish desires. He was no school boy. He knew how to amp up the sexual volume with a woman, and he had done that on this trip. Sure she had triggered it with her teasing back after the gas station, but he could have backed off. He hadn't, and that was on him.

Getting involved with Parker was not an option, whether she was single or not. He didn't do commitment, having been burned by that empty promise before, and was honest enough to know, his life style did not suit it. Casual was his forte. Nothing hot and heavy, no emotional entanglements, just good company and great sex. Nothing wrong with that. It didn't make him a bad guy. But messing with Parker's head did, because they were emotionally invested, how could they not be after working together all this time? Adding sex to that would be a disaster. Not that it was an option. Fuck his thoughts were spiralling and he hated being out of control. He liked plans, and goals and shit that made sense. Simple. He liked to keep shit simple.

What he was feeling was anything but.

Kelly Clarkson got intro'd on the radio, and he found himself glancing over at Parker as Walk Away burst into the trucks interior. The song infused him with irritation over her silent treatment. He could see her eyes flickering to him, then skidding away, and he tried to cap the temper rising in his chest. Yet Kelly Clarkson seemed to feel his pain, and as she belted out the classic, he discovered a whole lot of righteous indignation roaring through his veins. Screw it.

He pulled over onto the grassy verge beside the highway, not giving a crap if it was legal or not.

Leaving the engine running, and turning down the radio, he twisted in his seat and stared at Parker's profile.

"What the hell is your problem Parker?" It came out as a bark, but he was beyond trying to keep his cool.

She stayed mute, but her eyes betrayed her as she glanced at the cell in her lap. Right. Guilt. Well he couldn't let that stand since they had to work together after this, and this shit needed to be dealt with.

"You gonna give me the silent treatment all weekend? Grow the hell up Parker. Quit the stricken kitten act, it's pissing me off."

"Eliot, just drive. I don't want to talk or fight or piss you off." She refused to face him, and her voice was small and tired and so very unlike Parker that he felt his chest prickle uncomfortably.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"For a thief you suck at lying darlin'. What. Is. Wrong." Rapidly losing patience, Eliot managed to restrain the impulse to snatch her cell as she span it in her hands and throw it from the window. Apparently her crazy was catching. But his concern was real. He'd rather her mad than sad. Mad he could handle.

"Rule Three Eliot." She actually gave him the finger. Woah. Maybe she was mad after all. Words failed him for a second,and he ran his hand through his hair, flaring his nostrils as he tried to let the rage out slow and not in an explosion that would take the truck and half the highway with it. Her bizarre mood swing had him off kilter and he was not good when he was off kilter.

"Seriously? Well fine Parker, I'll make this easy for you. I'm gonna drive, and you are gonna get your act together and not ruin this day for me. Act like a fuckin' kid and I'll treat you like one sweetheart." Man he hadn't lost it so bad in a long time. As the anger drained and he saw Parker's face pale under his attack, he wanted to hit the steering wheel in frustration. He wasn't even clear on why he was so mad. Or why it was her fault. He twisted back to face the road, taking a minute before pulling back onto the highway. He didn't get as far as taking the truck out of neutral.

"You weren't treating me like a kid in the dressing room were you Eliot?" Parker's voice, cool but deadly made his head snap round. It was his turn to pale beneath his tan. She had him there. But he wasn't going down this route. He had fucked up, and wasn't going to repeat his mistake.

"So...what? This is punishment is it, the silent treatment? Get over yourself Parker. I don't recall you being holier than thou at the time darlin'. And don't worry, I won't be touching you again, so your freakin' virtue is safe and sound from me." Oh shit he was going too far but the words wouldn't stop and she was so poised and indifferent and cold, he wanted to shake the life back into her. Had he caused this? Of-course he had, overstepping boundaries that a grown man knew better to cross.

He wiped his face with both hands, wishing he could wipe away the words he'd spoken too but it was far too late for that. Grade A ass hole he decided. Maybe too much sleep was a bad thing after all.

"Oh, you really think my virtue was ever in danger?" Parker was warming up now, but not how he wanted, in entirely the wrong direction in fact, and he couldn't help notice how feisty she looked as she finally span about to face him. It shouldn't have been the time to notice just how gorgeous she was with the sun beating down through the windscreen, igniting her hair and her eyes. But damn him to hell he did. "I do what _I_ want, not what anybody else wants. _I_ decide. I'm no child Eliot, so stop acting like I am whenever it suits."

Well wasn't that a cold hard truth. But he wasn't done yet.

"This from the woman who hides behind her big kid act whenever she can't handle shit? Nu-uh Parker, the shoe fits sweetheart so deal with it. I told you before we had to back off. You wouldn't listen. Well now you will." Man he sounded like a condescending dick. He knew it, but figured what the hell. Better to be the arrogant son of a bitch she didn't like than the guy who fucked up her relationship.

"Well thanks Eliot, how heroic of you to save me from myself. I'm sure that's what your little show with my buttons was all about right? Teaching me to be careful of big bad wolves like you? Screw you and the freakin' horse you rode in on."

Eliot was furious and hot as hell for the blonde thief giving him back as good as he gave out. Man, she was glorious in temper, and he had never heard her so angry about something other than the job before. He was torn between concern and pride. His girl was a scrapper. Hardison's girl. God damn it. Hardison' girl. It was difficult to remember when she was so passionate and in his face.

"Yeah well, your boyfriend'll thank me for it." May as well add sexist insensitive ass to the list he figured, secretly wanting to hurt her for having a boyfriend and being so tempting at the same time. Because he was losing his mind and it was her fault.

"You weren't thinking about him when you were trailing your fingers up my back were you?" She made like a spider with her fingers in the air, her eyes mocking, but her expression fierce. And now they were at it Eliot thought, the guilt game. Sure she felt bad, but nothing had happened and nothing would. So ignoring him seemed futile. If he was any kind of man he would take it on the chin and apologise so they could move on. It had been an aberration on his part. A lapse in judgement. But he couldn't form the words, and in a stark moment of truth admitted why. He didn't want to move on. The realisation hit him full force and he stared at his hands on the wheel, where they gripped so hard his knuckles whitened. She was right. Screw him she was right.

"Parker I'm sorry." He choked the words out and glanced at her shocked expression, her surprise making him wince. She watched him closely, and he wished he couldn't see awareness in her gaze.

"I acted like an ass in the store. It won't happen again."

Only the radio filled the space his words left in their wake. It was a faint buzz since the volume was low, but a soothing melody could just about be heard. They sat for a few minutes, and Eliot could honestly say his heart had never beat such an erratic rhythm. Even the electric battery torture in Cambodia paled in comparison to this. He focused on his breathing and Parker's, and they synchronised as the seconds passed.

"I liked you in the store." She whispered it with a watery smile when he looked over. Oh man her eyes were filling and for a long moment he stared at her, and her confusion and distress stared back, and something else, something hopeful? No. He was imagining things to ease his own muddled sentiments. When he looked away, she carried on. "You bought my dress."

"It's a real pretty dress." So many words yet none that were suitable, or appropriate or his to say. Hardison was getting a hiding for doing this to them. Eliot felt the need to punish someone for his hollow gut and decided the hacker was it. If Parker was his, why wasn't she with him? Huh? Stupid stupid boy, not knowing what he had.

"Are you going to help me with the buttons when I put it back on?" Jesus, Parker was looking at him brazenly, and he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. What was she doing? After the silent treatment he got the come on? Or had the row simply fanned the flame they were both acknowledging now, however painfully?

"I don't think so Parker." She nodded, as if shaking the sexy off, and she pressed her lips together and widened her eyes as if stopping tears. The slight action was gone in an instant but it was enough to make him want to haul her across the gears and swallow her sadness whole by kissing her pink mouth till she forgot it could be used for anything else. Just kissing. A groan almost escaped. He needed to stop this now. "Look maybe you should call Hardison, I'm sure he's up and you can-"

"Were you thinking about kissing me just now Eliot?" She asked it like she asked anything, directly and with genuine curiosity and man it winded him. The blonde sure wielded a verbal sledgehammer when she wanted. She retied her hair as she waited for his reply, and he avoided watching her tee shirt rise to show off her slim stomach, or stretch across her chest as her arms raised to tighten the ponytail at the top of her head. Yet somehow he noticed anyway.

Coughing, he pulled the truck back onto the road at last, and wondered why she needed to know. It wasn't like her to toy with her prey. This was new and cruel and unusual. It was Sophie-esque.

Then her invitation and his knock back replayed in his mind and he figured she needed to know this wasn't just her. He wanted to lie. A lie would save a lot of awkwardness. But the tension was live anyway. It existed with or without the admission. And he was a lot of bad things, but a coward wasn't one of them. Staring straight ahead, the lush green foliage of the Interstates surrounds lost on him, Eliot sighed then replied.

"We both know the answer to that Parker. Calling the sky blue don't make it blue. It just is."

Then he turned up the radio and put his foot down. Taylor Swift was singing Sparks Fly and man, if he didn't know better, he'd swear Parker was humming along. The lyrics she seemed most fond of made his palms sweat, but at least she wasn't silent any more.

With only an hour to go before they arrived, he hoped they could get through the damn day without killing each other. His pulse tattooed as her dress and its buttons popped into his mind.

Or worse.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**So...yeah. It's tough this writing thing huh? Oh, and I don't do txt spk. :P**

/ /

Waiting for Eliot before leaving Morgantown...

**Hardison:**

_So we played a game. The you have sixty seconds to save one thing from a fire game. I need to talk to you Parker. Do you know what I saved from the fake fire? _

**Parker:**

_Old Nate's portrait._

**Hardison:**

_Damn girl, you are good. But like, all the other guys were saying people. If we were in a fire you know I'd save you right? You're my best friend Parker. For real._

**Parker:**

_I know. But that's all isn't it?_

**Hardison:**

_Honestly I think maybe but BFF's ain't no small thing P. We need to talk. Some stuff happened no biggie but Ima call you later, get it all straight. Don't get all Parker about it. ;) We cool. Right? :)  
><em>

**Parker:**

_Go freaking Horde._

/ /

Parker couldn't stop thinking about Hardison and the texts. Her chest ached thinking about his smile. All this trip she had figured she was the one who wasn't all in like she should be, wasn't acting like a normal girlfriend should, and now this. Hardison made the play. Huh. She wondered if she should feel relieved about it. Did it let her off the hook for the Eliot stuff?

Watching the scenery morph into ever more stunning vistas, as mountains and forests loomed all around, Parker did not feel relieved. She felt hurt. Really fucking hurt. Which was contrary, but she lived life contrarily so that wasn't exactly a shocker.

The fight with Eliot simmered in her veins, and she couldn't look inside the box she squared those feelings into. Nope. That box was sealed tight. She felt on the verge of exploding already. And that was a sharp edged shiny metal chest full of dynamite in the vault of her brain that she paced around, as she tried to deal with the chaotic emotions triggered by the texts.

Hardison's face floated before her, but she blinked it away, and stared into the beauty of West Virginia, Mountain State. It was blue and wide and green and deep and reached so high her eyes watered when she looked up at the rocky peaks along the wayside.

Had Hardison dumped her? By _text_? It couldn't be real. The cell slid in her hand as she rolled it, over and over, as if it were a magic eight ball and would give her an answer to a question she couldn't even find words for yet. She had no idea what she wanted to know. Because everything she thought she knew was wrong. The world had shifted and left her behind. Off balance.

Sophie would be an excellent person to speak to right now. Parker didn't make a move to text or call her though. Where had Sophie been for this blind side tackle? Not so sharp eyed there was she? Cooing and making cow eyes every time she watched her and Hardison together. Talking her out of her anxieties, making her trust the entire situation. What a crock that turned into.

She really liked Hardison. Maybe even loved him. Okay it wasn't hot and heavy, and they didn't count bases so much as blades of grass on the outfield but still. She had been a good girlfriend right? Watched a Star Trek marathon and lived through LOTR, which was umpteen hours of the worst lift ever since dawn began, my precious? Jesus if she was Gollum that shit would have been over in like fifteen seconds. Hardison had tried to tell her she wasn't like Gollum. Dude, she was the thief and so was he. Cue umpteen hours of analysing. She had taught him how to lift. She watched Doctor Who with him. She had done all the things a girlfriend was supposed to do. And failed. Miserably. How the hell do you have a guy like you for years and then turn him off you so completely after dating him a couple of months? Her lungs felt tight. She fought the sensation. She would not let this get to her. It was dumb. Dumber than dumb. It was dumb on toast with a side of stupid. He was just a boy.

But he was her boy. The friend she always wanted and never had. He played pranks with her. He let her use Eliot's moves on him. He was her playmate. She wanted him back. Oh man she felt dizzy.

It occurred to Parker that her own actions this weekend had been a little off. What with the naked Eliot imaginings. But that was all it had been. Imaginings. And a bit of teasing. And this weird new tension. Her and Hardison didn't have that. They had familiarity and TV nights and easy hugs. She liked those hugs. Eliot's made her rattle in her own skin. Whatever. Eliot aside, this was about Hardison and his texts. Hardison who had tried so hard and waited so long and now...this.

What had she done wrong? Maybe she wasn't hugely emotional but did he think she cared so little that a blow off text wouldn't hurt? Had she been too cold despite trying so hard? What had she done wrong? He had seen the real Parker and found her wanting that's what. The voice in her head was mocking, and for once, Parker understood why Eliot got pissed when she used that voice. It really was irritating. So she was different. Hardison knew that this whole time didn't he? He was a freak for gaming and all manner of stuff that she had no time for. Didn't make her like him less. A really painful thought sliced through her brain and she froze in her seat.

Had he not wanted her to meet his friends at the convention because of how weird she was?

Time stopped as her stomach cramped and sweat broke out at the base of her spine. Oh crap. Dots before her eyes told her what was coming, even as the internal free-fall began, and she couldn't draw air into her lungs any more. At all. Her face got hot then cold, and her ears popped like she was taking off but she wasn't; she was trapped in the truck and the seatbelt was crushing and she snapped it off and gasped, but the air through the window wasn't enough and everything was closing in and she couldn't hear the radio as her ears rang after the pop, and she was drowning on land and it would never never end.

Vaguely she heard Eliot's voice calling her but it was a million miles away and through water, and she opened the truck door and rolled onto the road rushing by just to make the world stop swallowing her whole. Just to stop it a while. Cool air hit her like bliss bubbles and the sound of the world roared back from the place it had ran to, screaming loud and raw as she hit the asphalt. The world stilled and she could breathe again. Huge gulping mouthfuls of ragged breathing.

Her body wasn't her own yet, and she stared up into the blue sky, feeling the hard road biting her back and thigh, but not really feeling it yet. The blue was big. It was the biggest blue she ever saw and she felt small in the face of it. So fucking small. Her eyes blurred.

Eliot was kneeling beside her and his hands were running over her legs and back, checking her head, checking well, everything. Though he needed a hack saw to do it right she thought, just crack her open and see about fixing all the broken shit inside.

Had Hardison seen the broken shit? _Of-course_. That helpful voice again. Lovely.

"Tell me where it hurts." Man Eliot sounded hoarser than she ever heard him, and his question just about sandpapered her skin off.

"Everywhere. Nowhere. I think that's the problem." She shrugged and winced as the road had the last laugh. Even she knew that throwing herself out a moving truck was freakin' crazy. Damn if Hardison had dumped her after she tried to be normal for him, Eliot would be smart to just get in his truck and drive away. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable silence. She had gone over the edge. This was why she stayed alone. Why she should have never thought she could be somebody's girlfriend. A Miss Right. Stupid stupid thief.

Eliot picked her up, slipping his arms beneath her knees and wrapping one arm carefully about her back, forcing her to twist her torso into his chest unless she wanted to lay like a dead body for the pyre in his arms. Her shoulder hurt as she looped her arms about his neck, and she tried to let the hiss out quiet but he heard it anyway. He was a wall. A tough, warm, breathing wall. And he already thought she was nuts. Nausea flooded her. She had ripped off her mask and he had now witnessed just how screwed up she was. Not even in control of her own body. Not even able to handle a break up like a normal human being. Shame burned through every cell and stung her eyes and lodged itself in her throat. She refused to fucking cry as well. Using every ounce of will power she had remaining she swallowed back the bitter hot tears. It was a tiny victory in the face of her failings. But it mattered to her that she won that particular battle. It mattered a lot.

The truck had skidded to a halt at the side of the road. He had hit the brakes so hard rubber striped the asphalt. When he opened the back seat, she wanted to die. Being put in the back seat. Story of her life right?

She didn't expect him to sit her in gently and tell her to lie down. She didn't expect him to lift her feet and put them on his leather seats. She didn't expect him to climb in the other side and lift her head onto his lap. She didn't expect compassion in his eyes as he looked down at her. Her throat swelled.

"Don't you ever make a liar of me again Parker. Never a-fuckin-gain." His voice was pure controlled anger and relief and fear rolled into one. His hair was loose at his shoulders as he stared down at her and she blinked, confused. He undid her ponytail so her head could sit easy, and her hair fanned out, tickling her cheeks. His hands stroked her arm and her forehead, over and over, as if calming the crazy right out of her. Not that that was possible.

"I didn't." She hadn't called him a liar had she? Honestly she couldn't even recall what she had done. Just the sweet moment that the vice like grip of panic released when she hit the ground and the sky greeted her above. Oh. Did he mean his declaration that he wouldn't touch her again? Her stomach plunged. She wanted to disappear.

"Yes. You did. I didn't catch you Parker. And I made a promise to." His voice was deep and raw and sad and the box in her head threatened to bust wide open.

"I don't remember that promise." She really didn't and her voice was croaky. Man her head was swimming. She went to sit up and his hand at her arm gently kept her down. His lap was warm and firm beneath her head. He reached for the cooler, his midriff pressing lightly at the side of her face for a second and she became utterly aware of his body, his strength, and his proximity to her own aching limbs. The muscles of his stomach were hard and flexed beneath his tee shirt as he stretched, and she clamped her teeth on her lip. His muscles were vibrating, and she realised dimly that he was tempering his rage because he was worried she would crack her ugly all over him again. Tears threatened and she battled them back. He pierced a juice carton and put the straw to her mouth, waiting till she drew the juice in.

"Just 'cause you never heard it don't mean it wasn't made Parker." Eliot logic. Gruff. Irrefutable. Huh.

The truck was quiet, and no radio played to distract her from her introspection and humiliation. Breathing resumed its usual pace slowly, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the hammer to fall. Because it would. It always did. She thought of Hardison, of losing her best friend and batted the hollow feeling away. Doom lay that way. Oh man she had thrown herself from a moving vehicle. Eliot was going to think she was suicidal. Or worse, actually truly insane. Not the cute eat Fortune Cookies for breakfast insane. The white coat kind.

"I'm not insane." She said it in a rush, eyes closed. His hand paused before resuming its soft pass over her hairline. She sucked more juice.

"I know."

"This hasn't happened since I was six." She began to chew the straw.

"OK."

"I'm not broken." Why was she still talking? Begging him to understand what even she couldn't? She gulped air in, and his hand on her arm squeezed lightly. She jangled all over, from the inside out, bones and tendons and joints all coming apart and she was nothing but thoughts in human soup.

"Hey Parker?"

"Yeah?" Teeth still attached to the straw and fearful, she responded anyway. It was going to come sooner or later. May as well get to it.

"Don't make a liar of me again. Promise me."

"But I-"

"Promise. Me." He was serious. Why did it matter now? She had ruined the trip by throwing her inner turmoil all over it, graffiti'd her secrets all across the morning sky in bright neon letters. "If you ever have a...if you ever need to fall you fucking tell me and I will stop whatever we are doing and we'll deal with it."

"Deal with it?" Parker didn't get it. Besides it was a one off. A moment of weakness under a building pressure she hadn't regulated right. Her own stupid fault. She should have eaten cereal whilst she thought it all through. That helped. Helped ground her.

"Yes Parker. Deal with it. Find you a building to jump from or a safe to crack. Anything to relieve your..." He groped for a word and she swallowed, and he continued stroking her head. He abandoned his word search. "Anything but throwing yourself out of a moving fricking vehicle on the Interstate."

"I didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't-" Oh God, she covered her face with her hands. How to explain she just needed to escape herself? How sad was that? Truly pathetic. International jewel thief. Class A weirdo. "I promise." Eliot stayed quiet, all out of words but she felt him humming around her. "Is there really something wrong with me Eliot?"

Eliot ran his hand along her arm and she felt him lean down toward her even before opening her eyes confirmed that's what he was doing. His lips touched her forehead lightly, and he hovered, before clearing his throat and lifting his head.

"Hell yeah. You wanna list?" For some reason his voice and smile eased the knot where her heart should be. He shifted like he was reaching for his back pocket, his stomach at her head again, firm and warm. "I've been keeping it a while, updating it every ten minutes, so it's pretty concise. It's probably in my jeans if you want me to-"

"Shut up." She sat up, and felt cold away from his warm lap. Teasing Eliot she could just about handle. She elbowed his side and he mock scowled.

"You need to put ice on your shoulder." He tossed her a gel pack from the cooler, and she raised an eyebrow as she caught it.

"Do you have shares in these?"

"Whatever. smart ass. Just put it against the tender parts and be grateful. You could have died Parker. I swear if-if a car had been coming or a-"

"I'm okay now. We should get back on the road. How far is it anyway?" She climbed from the back seat into the front gingerly, a lot more bruised than she was willing to admit. Better not have Eliot dwell on that diving from the truck thing. He was tensing up and she liked him when he was teasing. It meant he still saw Parker, not a fragile freak. She would call Hardison as soon as she had a minute. They needed to talk, not text. A weight lifted as she thought that now, and it didn't crush her as it had earlier. Things would be okay, as long as he was still her friend. And he had called her a BFF. That was a good thing. Maybe she could be good at being that. Eliot snorted at her and she span to face him and his raised eyebrows.

"Now you ask? We've travelled for almost-" he glanced at his watch-"eighteen hours and now you ask? That's going on the list Parker."

"Well how far is it?"

"Not tellin'." Eliot got back in the drivers seat and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes soft when he looked over at her. She harrumphed.

"I could have died you said. I'm living for every moment now. I need to know."

"Oh you had that epiphany in the last twenty seconds did you? Nope. Not tellin'." Eliot grinned at her as he shifted gears and she put the gel pack behind her shoulder. His expression darkened momentarily, before clearing and he turned up the radio. All Right Now by Free was playing and he glanced up to the truck ceiling with a shrug, before smiling to himself.

"Eliot c'mon. How long till we get there?" Parker grabbed a snack bar and threw one into his lap.

"Not tellin' Parker."

"Don't make me jump again Eliot." She sing-song'd it, and joking about it made it less of an exposed scar even as he growled at her.

The child locks clicked on.

"You were sayin' darlin'?" He looked at her with innocent who me eyes, and she sighed, and the wobble inside was slowly starting to settle. Parker smiled. Everything would be fine. The sky had not fallen in. Eliot had not tried to get her sectioned. They drove for about half an hour, letting the radio tug them along, Eliot humming and Parker sporadically asking:

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

The scenery was dramatic and Parker felt like she was in a living art gallery, every stunning new view was a mental photograph to be treasured. Eliot left the highway and took a couple of roads she had no idea existed until he magicked them from crowded forest enclosures. Secret roads she thought. Her favourite kind.

"Are we there yet?"

"Actually yeah."

Oh. Parker looked up at the huge arched sign above the turning Eliot was hooking a left for.

The Confluence Resort.

"This is it?"

"Yeah." Eliot was watching her closely. "Welcome to _my_ Plaza suite Parker."

**Notes: The Confluence Resort is real for those that like to know. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Happy Birthday Bron. :)**

**Reviews are cool. Thanks for all those following this story. It means a lot. :)**

Fayette County was beautiful. Parker had seen that already as they drove through. What she saw at the end of Patterson Ferry Road was something else. A whole secret world tucked away amid huge lush trees and rolling hills and craggy outcrops. It was breathtaking.

"Eliot, this place is beyond real."

"Yeah. I kinda like it." Eliot's expression relaxed as he took in the scenery and Parker had no words to express how she felt about seeing such beauty. Then someone else's words came to mind.

"Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven. We will bring you brushes paints and canvas. That you may spend your sacred leisure in the light..." She trailed off, self consciously as Eliot glanced at her curiously.

"What's that? You ain't wrong, this place is a lot like heaven on earth as far as I'm concerned."

Parker shrugged, twiddling with a strand of hair as she stared into the tree canopies that dusted the hills either side. Greens and yellows and oranges of every shade glowed bright in the sunshine.

"Something written on Henri Rousseau's tombstone." Her favourite artist. Bright, jewel sharp images that saw the world like she did. Full of wonder, terror and colour and surprise.

"Tiger In a Tropical Storm huh? I know that feeling." He paused and Parker turned and they both said, "Surprised!" It was stupid but they both laughed, and it felt good to do it.

Parker watched the dream like vista roll by as Eliot navigated his way up a long drive and down roads with no names. He had been here before. He was relaxed here. She wondered if she should ask where she could hole up while he dealt with whoever's wedding this was. She had dust and grit in her hair from her road dive, every muscle was aching and she had dirt on her jeans and top too. Besides he probably needed to give them a story about who she was and what the hell she was doing crashing the wedding. It was cool. She expected to be squirrelled away till the actual wedding. At least she could shower and check out just how messed up her body was from the tumble. And put on the dress. Though she felt nervous about that now. Like Eliot had seen her at her worst, weakest point. What the hell was the point in putting on a dress? She was still crazy underneath it.

"You ready?" Eliot's question broke her meandering thoughts and she made a face.

"For what?"

"Introductions." The truck pulled up in front of a wooden villa, exquisitely crafted and landscaped to nestle into an open space amongst the trees, slightly on a crest of a hill so the sun hit it just right, causing the wood to glow. There were cars and trucks parked up alongside. Noise poured from the open door.

"Wait, now? You want me to meet people now?"

"Well I sure as hell ain't smuggling you in Parker." He gave her an odd look, then reached out lightning fast and shook her hair with one hand, loosening any remaining dust and grit. "You'll be fine. C'mon."

He climbed down from the truck and Parker stared at him through the windscreen, baffled. Well okay then.

She climbed out and dusted her jeans as best she could, letting Eliot tuck her in beside him as they strolled up the short path to the door. She felt sick.

"Anyone seen the groom?" Eliot called out as they reached the hallway and a flurry of thank gods and hello's poured toward them from people that seemed to magically appear from every doorway and the huge open lounge straight ahead.

A young man, good looking, nervous as hell and wearing a pitch black morning suit, with an indigo coloured waistcoat underneath charged through the throng and caught Eliot in a hug. Parker blinked in shock when Eliot accepted the hug and patted the kid on the back.

"Thank God Eric. I knew you'd make it, I wasn't worried at all." He made a pah face, and Parker liked him instantly. Then she worked out the implications. Was this the groom? He looked like, twenty.

"You know me Cor. Just like keepin' you on your toes college brat. Cory, meet Parker. Parker, this is Cory." Eliot made the introduction she had been sweating over so simple. This is Parker. Huh. No story, no role, just...this is Parker. She smiled and reached out a hand but Cory extended his hug to her and she took it, awkwardly, glancing at Eliot over the boys dark hair. Eliot just shrugged.

"Great to meet you Parker."

"You too Cory." She wanted to know who he was and how Eliot, well _Eric _knew him. Eliot looked at her a little uncomfortably and ran a hand through his hair.

"Your suit's upstairs, and we commence at," Cory addressed his watch, "2pm, so you guys have time to get ready. Phew." Cory rubbed his hands together, eyes bright and hands just trembling slightly.

"Hey Parker, I'm gonna go on up with Cory to fetch my suit, will you be okay for a minute?" Eliot had a hand on the kid's shoulder, and was asking her something else entirely with his eyes. She nodded mechanically.

"Sure, I'm cool." She waved him off and then put her hands to her hips as they vanished up some hand carved stairs, feeling every muscle protest as she creaked backwards trying to loosen the pain.

"Did I hear right? It's Parker?" A woman with red hair and red lips and a whole mess of red dress was at her elbow in a flash and Parker started, before nodding. Red? At a wedding? Sophie would not approve.

"So you came in with Eric I see." The woman was holding a flute of champagne and Parker wondered if she was family. Then weighed up the red dress, and dismissed that idea outright.

"That I did." She confirmed the observation, then smiled at the lady."I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?" Wow. Parker heard the claws in her own tone and dialled it back. Poor woman hadn't done a thing and yet she had Parker's skin all hot and brain all fried. Possible concussion? Yup. She really needed to find a quiet corner and call Hardison.

"Oh me? Why I am Scarlet Woodeaves." Parker never understood why people gave away their whole names like that. As if Parker were supposed to know what a Woodeaves was. It was an easy trait to use in a con as a result, that air of expectancy the tone engendered. It was odd to be on the receiving end of it.

"Nice to meet you Scarlet, I'm just gonna-" Parker spied an open deck through the living room, and only a small number of people using it and was keen to head through the fancy house and make her call. Scarlet wasn't so easily brushed off.

"So how do you know Eric?" Oh great, the third degree? It was a freakin' wedding. Interrogations not implied and not prepped for. Parker swung her arms breezily.

"Oh, through work. Yeah. So I'm gonna go-"

"So are you and Eric-"

"Oh Scarlet are you monopolising this poor girl?" Parker was eternally grateful to the older lady with soft brown curls and an easy smile who interrupted and caught her arm. "Why she has just driven lord knows how long, Eric told me you are most likely exhausted." He did? Parker mumbled something, very aware of Scarlet's bright blue eyes narrowing on her. Hmmm. For no particular reason Parker wanted to call Sophie. Despite her hurt about the Hardison fiasco, Sophie was mostly her go to option when she was overwhelmed. She wouldn't this time though. It would give too much away about this weekend. Plus she had another call to make first. The older lady manoeuvred her through the room to the open patio doors and Parker felt jostled but in a good way.

"Thank you." The woman clucked in a forget it fashion. She was wearing a lilac dress that highlighted her silver streaked chestnut hair and twinkly eyes. "Are you Mrs Claus?"

"Excuse me honey?" Parker checked herself. Alone for five minutes and the wacky was slipping out. Crap.

"I said are you Cory's mother? You have the same eyes." She smiled at the lady in what she hoped was a pretty manner.

"Why yes I am. Louise Wentworth. Mother of the groom at your service." Parker felt the sun on her face as they stepped onto the wooden deck, potted shrubs and rainbow flowers at the railing edges and the wide steps leading to the manicured lawn. Her cell burnt a hole in her pocket.

"Well thanks for the save Mrs Wentworth. Scarlet? A bit rah." She made tiger claws to match her rah and Mrs Wentworth chuckled and patted her arm kindly.

"Call me Lou. Oh pay her no mind. She's just curious about the competition is all." Parker gazed out at the gorgeous scene, the greens like jades and the blue of the sky reminding her of The Star of Bombay, another item on her bucket list. Then she stilled.

"I'm sorry the what?"

"Oh well Scarlet has made no secret of her interest in Eric. Whenever he visits they-"

"Oh. Right. I get it." Huh. Parker smiled benignly not needing the full details. Her chest felt tight. Stupid. Eliot not having a woman stashed somewhere? About as likely as Nate not have sixteen back up plans or Sophie eating chicken fried steak.

"Well I am sure happy y'all made it. Cory was tryin' not to let on but I could tell he was worried."

"Really? So he and El-ric are that close?" Parker decided she didn't care and still asked the question. And listened to the answer, whilst noting the open plan kitchen over Louise's shoulder, replete with catering trays full of appetisers and a fully stocked fridge the guests were not shy about emptying.

"Why of-course! Ever since they met at that mine, Eric has been so helpful to Cory. but you know that obviously if you work with him at the trust. The work must be so rewarding." The trust? What the hell had Eliot told these people? "I mean I don't know whether Cory would have gotten into the College of Engineering without that scholarship fund. He's smart my boy but, well you know, it's what you do! Why am I talkin' your ear off about it?"

Parker didn't know, but the gratitude was clear in Lou's face, and the pride in her son. So Eliot kept in touch with this kid from the mining job all that time ago? Why?

"It's no problem. But no shop talk at a wedding right? It's all about the kids today." She spread her hands and smiled, needing to make that call. It was a rock in her lungs with every passing minute. She wanted to talk to Hardison without Eliot in the next room and had no idea when that opportunity would arise again. "Louise, sorry, Lou, would you mind if I just excused myself to make a call? I'll be right back."

"Oh certainly dear you go right ahead. Reception is spotty here though, so you may need to test it."

Oh crap, Parker had not thought of that. She palmed her cell, and caught Scarlet's eye as she headed off the deck and up the hill a little way. She screwed her face up in response and felt a stab of satisfaction when the red head cocked her head, viper like. Then ignored the weird bubbling in her stomach. It reminded her of facing off another thief once in a job, and the thrill of adrenalin and challenge his skill had evoked. Parker did not like to be beaten. Not that Eliot was a painting she wanted to steal. So it wasn't right to feel like that about him. Or any person. She shook it off. Let _Eric_ have his trust and red heads. Nothing to do with her. Nothing at all.

Hardison answered after three rings. She sat on the grass and crossed her legs. Nerves screeched along her veins. As soon as he said hey, she wanted things back the way they had been before. Comfortable. It took her a long time to feel comfortable.

"Hardison have you dumped me?"

"Hey slow down Parker, girl I am so sorry about drunk texting you. Very not cool. Are you all right? How's the fishin'?" He yawned. Yawned.

"I haven't caught anything yet. How could you be drunk texting? It was like at 9 o clock in the morning."

"Parker sweetie, y'all are aware of time zones right? We pulled an all nighter. I was wasted. Damn I think I still am wasted. I do not know how Nate functions day to day when he is on this shit dude, I mean I don't want to _admire_ his alcoholism but he does perform spectacularly all things considered."

"Hardison. We need to talk."

"We are talking. What's wrong P?"

"Don't you remember what you said?" And she had thrown herself from a moving vehicle. Huh, Parker wondered if the problem was not that she didn't care enough, but cared too much.

"Not really. Something about saving you from a fire? There was definite fire saving going on."

"You said we are best friends."

"Oh. Well we are. Aren't we?" Now he sounded slightly sharper, and she could picture him sitting up in bed, trying to clear his foggy head. A lump in the throat choked her for a minute. She plucked at the grass as she tried to breathe.

"Is that all we are though Hardison? You seemed to think so."

"Oh." Now she had his full attention. She waited, tummy flipping. "Well, I mean, what do you think?" She heard the pain and confusion in his tone. But also, the carefulness. Oh God. You didn't react to that question like that if there wasn't something to it. Even she knew that. So, she had been right in her initial reaction. And though she had made peace with it in a weird way, it didn't make the reality any easier.

"I feel confused about it." She flattened some grass and sighed. "I don't want us to be different. But I know we aren't like Nate and Sophie."

"Nobodies like them sweet thing, do _not_ sweat that." Silence. "Maybe what we need to be is what we already were, without trying to be different. This dating is different. Not us."

"Did I do it wrong?" She couldn't help the inflection in her tone as she tried hard not to cry.

"What? Hell no Parker, why would you think that?"

"Because it's what you wanted and now you don't."

"Girl," he sighed, and she could see him, closing his eyes and gathering his thoughts,"that sentence has everything to do with me and nothing to do with you. Why wouldn't I want you? You are hot. I know you look in mirrors honey, this isn't new information."

"So what I'm not hot any more?" She smiled, and he chuckled.

"Oh you fishin' for real now huh? Parker, how do you feel about it? I know I love you. You rock ten ways from Sunday. What we got don't need dating to make it better. I never had a best friend before."

"Me either." Parker felt her heart constrict. "I want us to be that."

"We will be. We are. I'm not a kid Parker. I know when it's right and when it ain't. You can't get mad at chemistry. Ours is cool. I tried to change it. My bad."

"Hardison, will we still have our TV nights? I like them a lot."

"Nothing's gonna change Parker. That's the point. Nothing really has. I guess I just needed to-never mind. I wish I handled that text better. I swear I passed out cold, I had no idea I had-"

"No, no it's fine." What's a few hours of emotional torture and self destruction between friends she thought. "So who is she?"

The silence was deafening, but for once, Parker didn't need an earbud to direct her. She followed her instincts.

"Who's who?"

"The girl you had chemistry with. Proper chemistry."

"Parker, you know I wouldn't ever-"

"I know. But you can't stop feelings can you? Or thoughts." She sighed, Eliot way too easy to think of as she waited for his reply. She half wondered if she was so desperate to have this conversation because of Eliot. Because she couldn't take the confusion and guilt of the feelings the long haired hitter inspired. She bit her lip and studied the lawn. The answer was as much yes as it was no. Parker needed clarity. She needed black or white, not maybe and if and one day. Those words had ruined her as a child. She wouldn't let them in on a matter this important. Whether it was in order to resolve her relationship status with Hardison or to alleviate her guilt for having sparky ideas about Eliot, it didn't matter. It just needed doing.

"Did something happen Parker?" He sounded concerned, and curious too. Maybe a bit hurt. But not mad. It told its own story she realised. You couldn't be mad at someone for something you were guilty of. Not if they really were your best friend.

"I-" She had reached for a lie, and stopped. She loved Hardison. He was her best friend. If she lied now, then they would never be the same. Pain now, or lose him later. She hoped she chose right.

"I honestly don't know Hard. I've been pretty messed up on this trip. I keep thinking about us and then with..." Say it Parker. Say it or you lose a best friend anyway. "Eliot, I get all weird. I swear Hardison I would never do anything to hurt you. I just-" Oh damn her eyes were leaking and she was hiccuping down the cell as her confession met silence.

Wrong choice. She had made the wrong choice.

"Well damn P. Don't cry sweetheart, please do not cry." His voice broke, and she swallowed, guilt and grief over a relationship shifting from a course she had actively tried to follow combining. "I ain't mad at ya. But Eliot? Damn. Does he...?"

"Hardison, c'mon." She sniffed.

"Right. It's tough to want more and not-" He cleared his throat. "Just be careful. Look I maybe had a moment. Nothin' happened, nothin'. But it might have. Could have. And I guess if we were right, that should not even have been a possibility."

"I'm sorry." Parker was. She just didn't know what for exactly.

"Me too baby. Hacker and thief. We still that. We will always be that." She had needed to hear that, and now, with Hardison sad but smiling in her ear, she knew he meant it. That he felt the same.

"Happy Hordeing Hardison. Will I see you Monday?"

"Yeah. You will."

"Cool." Parker raised her face to the sun, and let it dry her eyes. She felt sad, but lighter in spirit. Worrying over doing the right thing was exhausting. Turns out you just have to follow your instincts and not fall into the trap of what others want. It was hard having friends whose feelings were dependant on your actions. Hard to know where the line between pleasing them and yourself was drawn. Maybe now she knew.

"You okay Parker?" She jumped when Eliot called over, walking toward her up the hill, a suit draped over his arm. She stood a little quick and wobbled as the aches hit. Man that road roll was the gift that kept on giving.

"Yeah. We done?" He stopped and waited for her as she approached. His eyes narrowed.

"Sure, we got time to go get ready before the I do's. You still hurting from that fall Parker?"

"I'm fine." She cracked her neck and stretched her arms, the picture of limber. Man it hurt. "So is there a room to change in or-"

"No. I got a place here. C'mon it's five minutes drive." He held out his hand and she let him guide her, knowing her act hadn't fooled him, but glad he hadn't called her on it. Enough exposing of weaknesses had transpired these last few hours to last her a life time.

"You have a house here? I thought this was a rental?" The villa had been show home perfect, no private family pictures, no indications it was anything other than a rental laid on as part of the wedding service. It was not hard to envision Eliot in this rugged terrain though. It was just hard to know when he had the time. Did he ever really go fishing at all?

"Yeah. These are." He swept his hand to encompass the other villas dotted at far ends of the clearing, hidden amongst the tree line."I got a deal on the wedding for Cor since I'm a resident, got a patch of land over there."

Parker hmmm'd.

"I remember that job. The one where I had to be that ADA's assistant?" He nodded as they got in the truck. Louise came to the door and waved them off, tapping her watch at Eliot. He grinned and saluted her. "Why'd y'you stay in touch with the kid?"

"It's not a big deal Parker. I just did all right?

"OK grumpy. Just asking." He sighed and she looked into the distance as he drove up a winding track off the main thoroughfare through the woods. Funny, but Parker had figured sorting things out with Hardison would make dealing with Eliot easier by default. Wrong again Parker.

"Look it's just not a big deal. The kid needed a push so I gave him one." The truck stopped at the end of a small drive, and Eliot parked up, hands firm on the gears and Parker watched them, fascinated. Then snapped out of it when she caught his puzzled frown on her.

"So you created a fake trust? Pretty tricky of you _Eric_." He had the grace to look contrite. Then he got out of the truck and grabbed the suit from the back along with their bags.

"He's a good kid Parker." As if that explained it. And perhaps it did, Parker reasoned. Sometimes the jobs they did threw up far more victims than the one who asked for help. Just look at Josie. Huh. Parker kept that to herself, knowing that the postcards she sent to the young car thief were a secret she maintained because she had no desire to see Nate's knowing eyes on her as he understood too easily why the girl had touched Parker enough that she followed up. Did Eliot see himself in Cory? It was an insight that shocked her. She wasn't all that good at insights as a rule.

"So you getting out or what?" Eliot was at the bonnet of the car and she blinked, before seeing the house he had parked in front of.

A rustic villa, tucked beneath the shelter of red oaks and yellow poplars sat on a jutting overhang hidden from the main road. The sound of water running in the distance soothed and the sun dappled the ground and the tiled roof through the canopy above.

Parker slid out of her seat and her feet hit the ground as she closed the door, taking the place in. Eliot's place. A bicycle was propped against the low fence, and a white haired old lady burst from the front door in a flurry of energy. Parker stepped back, wary of the ball of activity. And she did not like bike's. At all.

"All ready Eric honey, so nice to have you back! It's been a while. We missed you." Eliot accepted a hug off the lady and kissed her cheek. Sometimes he really was a gentleman.

"'Preciate it Florence."

Florence was a tiny bird of a woman and she gave Parker a very thorough examination as she mounted the bicycle and sped away into the trees. There seemed to be an abundance of woman of all kinds in _Eric's_ life. She found that annoying.

"Tick tock Parker c'mon. we ain't got forever before the wedding." Impatient Eliot was back. It was oddly comforting that he wasn't kid gloving her.

She followed him in, and got hustled straight upstairs to a gleaming white bathroom with a floor to ceiling window overlooking the drop behind the house. A bath was already run, and fresh towels sat on a tall pale wicker basket beside the sink. For some reason Eliot having a wicker basket made her smile.

"You need something for your shoulders?" Eliot asked but avoided looking at her face and she shook her head mutely, causing him to glance at her to see her response. He nodded, then left her to it. At the door he hesitated. "Parker, you gonna be okay with this? All these people?"

Ahh. So he did think she was going to be a problem. It stung.

"I told you I'm not insane." She ripped of her shoes as she spoke. Eliot turned and appraised her with furrowed brows. She was aching, but as she watched him watching her, the ache transformed into another kind, and she shifted, skin itching from the inside out. She had the strange notion that if he touched her, the itch would stop. Or at least get scratched deliciously. She hid the mortification of such an outrageous thought.

"I know. You just had a rough day. People have 'em Parker. No need to be so touchy man, I'm just askin' if you're okay."

"Oh." She had no way of answering that. She found her hem and winced as she attempted to remove her tee shirt. Instead of showing her pain, she made a face at Eliot who had not budged. "A little privacy?"

"Right." But he still stayed, and their eyes met, and Parker swallowed. The hot bath sent heat into the rooms air, and she told herself that was why her cheeks were heating. Eliot's expression was unreadable. She doubted her poker face was holding up so well under scrutiny.

Finally he turned, his hand lingering on the door knob before it closed behind him.

Parker stripped, wincing as her top came off, followed by her jeans and slid into the bath gratefully.

She felt sad and tired. As she closed her eyes, it wasn't Hardison and their resolved issues she thought of though, it was Eliot, and a secret thrilling hope he would walk back in the bathroom and haul her out of the scented water and...

Crap. She was screwed.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Uhm, notes: Enjoy? Oh and I listened to Night of the Hunter by 30 Seconds to Mars whilst writing this. How cool is that band?**

**Reviews inspire make my writing monkeys dance. So please do and thanks! :)**

Eliot showered in his en-suite and scrubbed himself raw beneath the hot water. He refused to allow the images of Parker in the bath that bombarded him any purchase. Easier said than done. The minx was a blonde imp sent to drive him mad. And he was a dirty son of a bitch for macking on his friends girlfriend. Totally out of order. But apparently unavoidable. His body responded to her like it hadn't known a woman before, and he resented the lack of control she managed to instil in him.

He was an idiot. He had seen this coming. Had known enough to put a lid on the snack sessions, but here they were. Well, here he was. Like a schmuck. He tipped his head and let the water run through his hair, his arm red and bright where he had stitched his wound. It looked as angry and fresh as he felt. Man he was acting like a horny teenager, and it was not acceptable for a myriad of reasons.

He was also pissed about it. Why was she here with him, driving him slowly out of his mind when she had a boyfriend? What the hell was wrong with Hardison anyhow? A freakin' convention as a destination choice when they had the first long weekend off since they started dating? Dumb ass. If it was Eliot, he wouldn't have spent it apart from her he knew that. He wouldn't have left the damn bedroom if at all possible. Parker was very athletic. And flexible. He had no doubt she would make sex as interesting as she made everything else. Oh man. He let his forehead hit the tile and slapped the wall. Enough already. His body was getting tight and his cock hard just thinking about her bendy ass tricks.

It was not fair. It was not fair to be so close and so far from something he wanted this bad. It sucked hard. He wanted to shake Parker and Hardison and tell them what they had was not right. How could it be when she looked at him with eyes so blue and full of very blue promises? Fuck. It was neither his business nor his place to intefere no matter the train wreck he saw coming. Parker needed more than friendship. She was full of electricity just straining to get out, and trying to adhere to convention messed her up. Yeah he teased her for it. Yeah he thought she was as crazy as a cat in drag but that was her. It made her who she was. And he liked her as she was. She made shit exciting, much to his chagrin. Man this road trip they had made more happen as a team than he could achieve in a month with planning.

Suck it the hell up Eliot. He stepped from the shower and looked in the mirror. He saw a human hammer. And had to admit that Parker did not need to be crushed by him. And he would crush her. He could play the sexual energy arcing between them, he could seduce her, and it would ruin everything. He couldn't do that. He wasn't a complete dick. Maybe she needed soft. Sweet. He wasn't those things and it was wrong to be mad as hell at her for making him wish otherwise. He was a man for chrissakes, not a boy. He would not lose it over sex. Not even sex with Parker. Even if he knew it would be explosive. Even if his heart whispered it would be a lot more than _just_ sex. Oh man.

Today was about Cory and his future. Maria was a gorgeous girl and sure, Eliot had whooped Cory's ass for what they had done, but they loved each other, and were or had been, sensible kids. Cory had had to grow up a hell of a lot in a short space of time. He wasn't a kid and hadn't been from the moment he made the choice to be the man of the house and support his mom and sister. A choice that it wouldn't even have occurred to a lot of kids was theirs to make. Because they were just that. Kids. No bad thing. But Eliot understood the urge to protect. To take responsibility for those you loved. No matter what age, you were built that way or you weren't. It wasn't hard for Eliot to relate.

Giving Cory the line that he was involved in a trust designed to aid youths like him had been easy. Sometimes when you wanted help but didn't know where to ask for it, you trusted your gut and took it when offered. Cory had. And Eliot was glad. He was a good man. Fuck ups aside. But even those, Cory didn't shy from, not that he would have. Maria was the light inside him, and she was a tough little cookie, intent on finishing law school no matter the obstacles. Louise would help. she doted on her kids and loved Maria like her own.

Towelling off his hair as he walked into his bedroom, towel wrapped at his waist, Eliot pushed his own irresponsible thoughts away. Today was not the place, and never was the time to deal with that.

He would deal by ignoring it. He took the blows right? It's what he did.

Then he heard a cry from Parker's room, the back bedroom nearest the bathroom, and was running before he could catch breath.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hair a wet streak down her front where she was trying to brush it out. She had bit her lip so hard she had drawn blood. And he could see why. Her towel was wrapped around her tight, and her shoulder blades were bare, but bruising was discolouring the skin exposed just where the towel began, and no doubt covered most of her back. Fuck. He should have taken her to an emergency room. She must be in a hell of a lot of pain.

"Sorry." She smiled brightly. "Had a cot."

"We should take you to hospital."

"Over a hair snag? Bit dramatic don't you think?" She was doing the brave thing, and it killed him. He tucked his damp hair behind his ears.

"I'm gonna get dressed and grab something for your back. Gimme a sec."

"Eliot?" He didn't want to turn around again, pretty sure the perv in him didn't give a crap about bruises, just how much slippery skin was on display. Which made him feel like a complete bastard. But his body wasn't thinking with his big brain, and the evidence was rising beneath his towel no matter how much he tried to talk it down. Shit.

"Just a minute Parker." He walked out of her room before embarrassing himself further. In his room he shucked off the towel and ignored the suit. He pulled on sweats instead and grabbed a jar of arnica gel from his medical kit in the en-suite. He stood at his wardrobe to grab a fresh vest, and thought of Hardison. Thought of every reason he could summon to dampen the misplaced desire tearing up his gut.

"Eliot?" He all but dropped the gel and spun about to find Parker in his room. Damn she was quiet. Cat like. Half naked. Hurt. He willed his heart rate down.

"I was just comin' back, why didn't you wait?" He glared at her accusingly. She shrugged, looking too innocent in her towel and with her wet hair for the kind of things he wanted to do with her. Because he was a soulless swine.

"Eliot I wanted to talk to you about something." She sounded nervous. He ignored the warning bells in his brain, and the blue eyes pinning him a little too easy.

"Well we need to sort your back out so it'll have to wait." No way he could touch her whilst she was talking to him about her boyfriend, or whatever other secret Parker wanted his advice on. And she looked like a woman with a secret. Nope. Couldn't do it. A primal urge was building in him, and it would not bow to rules or propriety or the honour he tried to live by. It was scorching through him and it was getting harder to ignore the longer she looked at him, with hot eyes she probably wasn't even aware were eating him up.

"My back? It'll be fine. Oh, will it ruin the dress? I don't want to look like a car crash victim in it." She tried to look over her shoulder and struggled, her worries so beyond his understanding but so entirely Parker he had to smile grimly.

"Seriously? You worried about your dress? Parker you could have internal injuries for Gods sake, I think that's the priority here darlin'."

"I don't. I've had them before. My organs are cool. Maybe a few ribs bruised that's all." That's all? He was infuriated and stalked up to her, wanting to yell his lungs out till they bled. He was the hitter. She shouldn't fucking know what internal injuries felt like. Shouldn't be putting a brave face on her pain. That's what he did. He should be feeling it. Not her. Never her.

"Parker shut up. Right now. Just get on the bed and let me see how bad it is." She was wise and did as he asked, an eye roll in typical Parker fashion thrown in for good measure as she knelt on the duvet. Oh man, that towel was damp and tight. He grit his teeth and skimmed the edge at her back, and as gentle as he knew how, he tugged the fabric down to expose the extent of the injuries. A band of bruising was starting to blossom from below her shoulder blades and continued to the middle of her spine, and the towel sat loose in the small of her back. He refused to look down, well aware her ass was bare just inches from the skin on display. He unscrewed the lid, and applied gel to both hands.

"This might burn, but it'll help." She was mumbling, something about burning already, but he only had so much concentration in him, and it was taking all he had not to put his mouth on her tender skin and soothe her in the most explicit way he could imagine.

She flinched as his fingers pressed at her skin, and stroked the gel across the sweep of her spine, trying hard to push harder than necessary to apply the gel. He winced, feeling it to the bone.

"Sorry, I told you it-"

"No, no it's okay. I'm just not used to-never mind." She had slipped her hair over her shoulder and he was back in the store, in the dressing room, and the electricity arced beneath his fingers, thrumming through his wrists right down to his elbows. He heard her breathe sharp, and wished he could be softer. But that wasn't him. And he was really fucking trying to be soft, even if one treacherous part of his anatomy had alternate ideas. Her skin was alabaster pale, making the discoloured areas stand out in stark relief. Man she was a tough brat. A soldier. It made his stomach twist. He smoothed the gel as quickly as he could, and got off the bed as if shot when done.

"That should help ease the ache and reduce any swelling but you'll need to reapply later." He was not doing it again. No freakin' way. The dip of her spine to just above her ass was imprinted in his mind, the slope of her back as it curved beneath his hands, the soft pale skin of her sides as she moved and he caught a glimpse as the towel gave way, almost too much for his head to take before it exploded. Enough. Even talking about aches and swelling was getting him hard for fucks sake.

"Thanks Eliot. It does feel better." She re-tightened the towel and got to her feet. Her bare feet. Damn she was so damn naked under that towel, his chest was pumping and he was suddenly aware that she was staring at his navel. Her eyes dipping below and to his...

"Parker." He coughed. She looked up and met his eyes, a little blearily. Had he hurt her more than she let on? Probably, she was a stubborn little thing. He felt like a meat head. Indelicate and rough.

"Remember when we didn't rob Tiffany's Eliot?" He hadn't expected that. Or her to step closer, as if about to share a shattering truth.

"I remember. Good times." He grinned, and eyed the wardrobe. He really needed to put on a shirt to hide the growing discomfort in his pants. Maybe she wouldn't notice. He began to sidle his way from her focus, but she tracked him, stepping closer. Oh Parker do not do this, it is not you. He didn't want her to be that girl. Even as he fought being that guy. Hypocrite. And secretly, he wanted her to be as screwed up as him about this. Because he was an ass hole.

"Why didn't you ask about the kiss?" Oh shit. He was frozen then, and she was right up in his face, puzzled but determined. Like it mattered a great deal. Her eyes were blue, her lips pink and skin fresh and clean and smooth as ice cream. He licked his lips then stopped, as she noted the act, and twiddled a strand of hair with narrowed eyes on him. Time to be the cold shower. Time _for_ a cold shower.

"Parker seriously this is not gonna fly. Hardison-"

"Is my best friend. My BFF. We talked about it earlier. So?"

"Wait what?" Eliot felt the roar thunder from his gut, through his heart and into his mouth. "You and H broke up?" When the fuck had that happened? Why? And did he care? His body was practically celebrating the news even as he tried to convince himself it made no difference. Not really. Not at all. Of-course not. Stupid to think otherwise.

"Turns out we hadn't actually been dating. I think. It's weird. But okay. That kiss?" Parker said it matter of factly, but he heard the sadness there, the underlying doubts she always had about herself. It pissed him off. She was strong in so many ways, independent and fearless, but sometimes her insecurities drove him mad. She had no cause to be insecure about anything. That the botched misguided attempt at dating Hardison had caused an inkling of damage to her self esteem made him furious, and he wasn't even sure why.

"What about the kiss Parker?" He growled it, his mind churning with a million thoughts.

"Why didn't you mention it?" She was even closer and he could smell the scent of her shampoo and whatever had scented her bath, it was sweet and heady and he struggled to focus.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. You were happy with the jump. And with Hardison what was I supposed to freakin' say Parker? I was trying to be discreet." His heart was thudding and he could hear hers. This was not a good idea. She was vulnerable and hurt and looking for reassurance about her femininity and he was not the right guy to give it. Not without lasting repercussions anyhow.

"Well no need for discretion now. So spill. I need to know Eliot. I need to know if I can be normal. Because I got it wrong and now I don't understand why I feel so weird with you and whether that's what it should be or if that's wrong too and-" She was fierce and direct and honest and it broke his heart to hear her so lost.

He kissed her. How the hell could he not? He cupped her face and found her lips with his and she froze for a fraction of a second before her mouth yielded to the pressure and she kissed him back, her rough towel pressing at his chest as she wrapped her arms about his neck. Oh man she was soft and delicious and when he let his tongue slip over her lips she opened up easy, moaning as she let him in. Eliot held her head in his hands and kissed her till they both gasped for air, his tongue in her mouth and her teeth nipping his lips and her fingers pushing through his hair. He was hard and she was sleek, her breasts rubbing at his chest and her noises, man her hot little noises had him ready to throw her down on the bed and-

Her bruises. Her sadness. Her confusion. With effort he dragged his mouth from hers even as her hands tugged him back and her teeth clung to his bottom lip. So fucking hot. So Parker. So wild. But so damn unsure about everything.

"Parker this isn't, I mean, we can't-"

"Did I do it wrong? Maybe I need practice." She reached up and kissed him soundly and he felt his knees go, and realised with some shock that she was as dangerous as any Triad gang or Russian mobster. With them he always found his balance. With Parker, he wasn't entirely sure he could.

"Darlin' you do it just right. More than right. Fuck, you do it perfectly," he groaned as he held her shoulders, and hated his sorry ass as she looked up at him, mouth swollen and cheeks flushed. That towel was a red flag to his bull and he had to gain control over this.

"I don't get it." Parker sounded as baffled as he felt, and he kissed her quick, but her lips were sleek and inviting and his tongue slid in to meet hers and they were kissing like it was the law and he pulled back. Panting. Actually panting. What the hell was he doing?

"Parker I think-"

The door bell rang and they both turned with hunter swiftness at the glaring intrusion.

"Saved by the bell huh?" Parker smiled at him, passion hazed blue eyes so big he could fall in and drown in them, and he frowned. She skipped from his hands that were holding her shoulders and vanished.

"Guess I'll get the door then!" He called, pissed off, frustrated and not at all happy with how his body was humming, and glanced at the clock on his dresser. Florence had set them again, and he swore. Only he and Parker could make the eighteen hour drive, get here on time and still be late. He grabbed a tee shirt and for the first time he could recall, owned up to stomping.

It was a definite stomp that got him to the door.

Scarlet Woodeaves was on the doorstep.

Christ this wedding was becoming harder to survive intact than a Chinese gaol.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Thank you to all reviewers and followers of this fic-R/L is rubbish right now but you guys really motivate me to write! Plus losing myself in these two is good therapy...:D**

****Updated from earlier as tweaks got eaten by bad mojo on my lappy****

**Naughty lappy!:P  
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Parker almost passed out doing up the buttons on her dress. But sweat at her brow, and nausea rolling up and spilling into her trachea threatening to cut off her lungs were still not enough to make her call for help. Not with Scarlet freakin' _Woodeaves_ downstairs. She did throw the hair dryer she found in her room in disgust when her arms refused to co-operate any longer, having reached their limit with the demanding task, but managed to land the offending object on the bed not the wall. So that was completely unsatisfying. She managed to plait her hair in two strands but it was exhausting. Her arms were fine, it was the stretching her back to lift them that hurt like a bitch. Speaking of which.

Scarlet Woodeaves. Parker wanted to throw her off the overhang into the river far below and pick up in Eliot's bedroom where they had left off like the doorbell had never rang.

That kiss was...something else. Eliot's hands on her face were rough but gentle and his mouth so commanding, she had almost saluted rather than grab his neck to hold on. Hot. She finally knew what hot meant. It had singed her veins and boiled her blood and had her body throbbing and that stupid red head had crossed a line by showing up here. Parker wasn't clear what line, or who had drawn it, but she knew on a basic level, that Scarlet Woodeaves had committed an unforgivable act just by breathi - being here. Offering a friendly lift my ass.

Eliot passed by the door way, adding cuffs to his white shirt and caught her just as she was pretend throttling the red head, and she stopped immediately, banding up her plaits instead. His pale blue eyes narrowed.

"Did you need a hand with your dress Parker?" His voice was low, and the question should not have been inflammatory but it was. Ever since her bath had been destroyed with images of him taking his own shower down the hall, everything seemed to be sex related. Her mind twisted all thoughts toward naked Eliot. Kissing a naked Eliot. Killing Eliot for letting another woman in his house. She shook her head.

"I managed, thanks." He tipped his head, watching her sharply. He had tied his hair back, and in black trousers, white shirt and the same indigo waistcoat as Cory, he looked like a spy from a movie. A hot spy whom the plot demanded must be naked and/or seduced at some point. Yeah. The best kind of spy.

"Parker will you stop doin' that?" He hissed and she widened her eyes not sure what she was doing.

"What?"

"Lookin' at me like I'm freakin' dinner. It's disturbing." She blushed and threw a boot at him.

"Fine. You're off the menu. Happy?" She plonked herself on the bed, yanking her boots on then realised one was in Eliot's hands. Crap. So much for that little victory.

"Look Parker I-" She hopped over and snatched her boot back, in no way mollified by his regretful expression. Eliot could kiss her ass the arrogant dick. The idea actually made her tingle and she hated him for being so god damn worldly and contained. Well she could be that too. She lived her whole life being cool and aloof right?

"Food should not speak." Yanking on her boot she stood and patted down the skirt of the turquoise dress. It felt good. Swishy. Sweeping passed Eliot on the landing she ignored him haughtily. She had a visitor to deal with.

Scarlet was sitting on one of the leather sofa's in the lounge, and Parker wished she had gotten the tour before being hustled into the bath. The red head looked very much at home here.

"Why hello again Parker. What a pretty dress. How much longer will you need to get ready?"

Me-freakin'-ow. Parker assessed the woman, who despite the red hair had tawny skin. It was an irritating fact to go along with a growing list she decided. Parker hadn't packed a toiletry bag, she had borrowed items from Eliot's bathroom to bathe with. Now she felt uncouth and childish, having packed nothing but a toothbrush and pants. At least she had acquired a new pair of those from the Plaza and the ever lovin' Jenny had sent up a black bra and pants set to match her burglar outfit. She really should send that girl a gift. But now she was plain faced and feeling it. Make up wasn't a major concern usually but she was a woman, despite the team's confusion at times. She knew mascara looked better than none, and that pale peach was best as a blush for her skin tone. She wasn't a freakin' idiot. She just hadn't planned ahead.

"I'll just be a minute girls," Eliot jogged down the stairs and out of the front door and Parker stared after him feeling murderous. Girls? Like his gaggle of? Huh.

"So Scarlet, what exactly do you do?" Parker found Eliot's open plan kitchen and asked as she pulled a box of cereal from a cupboard. Her kind. Sweet. She was going to need it.

"Do? Honey do you mean as a job?" Scarlet said the word job as if it were an illegal activity one could do twenty to life for. Which in Parker's case it was, but she ignored that observation and stared at the woman, chomping on a handful of crunch.

"Well yeah." Parker raised an eyebrow. D'uh.

"I am involved in various charity organisations around the counties, and manage my late fathers estate."

"Oh. Sorry about your dad." Even strong dislike couldn't keep the automatic condolence at bay.

"Why thank you Parker. He passed a few years ago now, but I still miss him." Parker wondered if she was going to manage not to stab Scarlet with a fork. She really wasn't sure. Even when being polite, the woman said her name as if talking to a three year old and having to remind them of it every minute. Parker, your name is Parker. Can you say Parker? It had her hand go reaching for the kitchen drawer.

Fortunately for one of them, Eliot returned holding a bag and smiling politely at Scarlet, paused.

"The lift to the wedding is appreciated Scarlet, saves me having to leave the truck later on. Would you forgive us a minute before we head over?" The red head smiled serenely and trailed a polished nail down her throat as she answered. Parker decided a knife would be far more effective than a fork.

"Why of-course. Can't have the poor girl showing up half finished now can we?"

Eliot slipped the knife from Parker's death grip and bodily removed her from the living area and up the stairs with a tight smile in Scarlet's direction. She knew better than to struggle and gave in. His arms were pretty muscular after all.

Upstairs, Parker pushed him off as soon as they reached her room.

"Is manhandling really necessary?"

"Is manslaughter?"

"So you admit I was provoked." She put her hands on her hips, oddly satisfied with that.

Eliot ran a hand over the back of his neck. He looked...flustered. He looked like Nate did on occasion after Sophie stropped out of a room. It was intriguing to Parker, and she watched him closely, arms folded, waiting.

"Moving on from whatever that was," he cleared his throat, "I picked you up some stuff in Morgantown." He handed her the bag.

"What is it?" Instantly suspicious Parker received the small bag as if handling live ammunition. With Eliot who knew what constituted as a gift? Nate and Sophie got him a samurai sword for Christmas for cripe sake.

"Just some things I figured you'd need. You packed ridiculously light remember?" He seemed nervous which was most unlike him. Curious she opened the bag. Oh.

"El-Eric, I could kiss you." She grinned at him, and he stepped back as is she were about to launch herself bodily at him. Well that was a little offensive she decided, pursing her lips.

"About that Parker, I should have known better. Look, maybe it's best if we just forget that happened and try and get through the weekend without any added complications."

"Riiiight. Complications." Parker wanted the knife back to use on him. You don't kiss a girl like that and open her eyes to just how awesome it could be, then nix it. Nu-uh. "So is she your lover?"

"What? Parker c'mon, Scarlet? I barely know her." Then he looked up. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Er hello? _You_ kissed me. Twice. I won't be made an accessory to your philandering." She was pretty pleased with that one. Sophie would be proud. She grabbed the bag and sat at the dresser. "Besides," she continued, feeling on a roll and getting a sadistic buzz off the panic in Eliot's eyes,"doesn't barely knowing her make her an ideal candidate for you?"

Eliot blinked, and his expression was eminently satisfying. He looked like she'd just round housed him with her pretty suede boot. She ripped open the blusher in the stash he had thoughtfully supplied and applied it furiously. Huh. Peach.

"How did you know what colour to get?" She was too curious not to ask despite the frosty atmosphere. She watched him respond automatically in the mirror, his hands at his hips as he paced behind her, his eyes on the floor.

"What? Not hard, Parker, whenever you get dressed up for jobs you always have a kind of apricot glow, all sunny and-" He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat loudly. "Anyway, can we just agree to get through this without any more kissing?"

Man he was actually pleading, she thought, as she slicked on the mascara he had also purchased. Her eyes grew larger in the mirror. Hmm. A dab of the deep green eye-shadow on her lids and a smudge of nude lip-gloss and she was done. Pouting in at her reflection, she figured she would do, and undid the bands of her damp plaits, now dried into tousled waves.

Standing from the dresser leather stool she turned around and he looked at her, still waiting for an answer, brow creased and mouth just a little too kissable. Parker stepped up close and whispered in his ear like she had witnessed Sophie do so many times on a con.

"If we aren't going to kiss then how exactly can I thank you for the very thoughtful gift you bought me Eliot?" His cheeks were hot under her breathe and she felt all jangly again. His head turned a fraction and his breathing hitched and she smiled, confidant she had him snared. Their cheeks were touching and lips parting and oh yeah he was going to give in again all right-

"We really need to leave now if we want to hear the vows!" That damn woman's voice split the air.

"_In a minute_!"

Parker and Eliot both bellowed in frustrated unison and their heads turned to the door as one to do it. Parker was getting seriously pissed off with that woman. Eliot wasn't all that pleased with the interruption either, since his slate blue eyes had darkened and his mouth parted ready to snatch hers up and school her in kissing again. Once his frown at the stairs eased his expression cleared and he stepped back.

"How about you say thank you by not stabbing anyone at the wedding? That'd be great."

"I honestly am not sure I could keep that promise." Parker seriously was not at this particular moment and Eliot grinned at her bluntness, his eyes sparking. It made her chest flip. He shook his head and sighed.

"Oh and here," he fished something sparkly from his pocket. She stepped close to study it. A butterfly pendant in sterling silver and a set of earrings to match. From Tiffany's. She had seen them during the non robbery. Inexplicably she couldn't speak as he slid the pendant on for her. It hung beautifully, and shone against the turquoise and tiny white embroidered flowers of her dress. Her hand found it and held the warm weight in her hand. Eliot's warmth, in more ways than one.

"What happened to Rule Four?" It was all she could think of saying, as a weird soft feeling rushed through her lungs.

"Still intact. I left 'em the cash with a note. C'mon we gotta go." Eliot refused to meet her eyes and grabbed his suit jacket from over the bannister where he had left it. Fastening the earrings, Parker looked at herself in the mirror and felt complete. It was a new feeling. She liked it.

She walked down the stairs and met Scarlet's gaze easily. The pretty adversary noted the added polish but made no comment.

"Excellent, let's be gone then shall we? Poor Louise will be having kittens if anyone is late to this wedding." Scarlet then tucked her hand into Eliot's arm and he froze, before glancing back at Parker. He looked about as hunted as he did when he was dealing with thugs, a calculating gleam in his eye weighing up exactly what his best options were in this situation. Parker grinned, and decided not to care. Scarlet could do what she liked. Parker had butterflies in her ears and swinging at her neck. Skipping in front of them and out of the door, she waited at the door of the silver Ferrari the woman in red had driven up to ferry them in. And smiled.

/ /

The ceremony was beautiful. Sat on pews in the sunshine set at a stunning overlook, Parker perched beside Eliot wide eyed. Cory and his wife, a blooming very pregnant Maria, said their vows beneath a white trellis archway threaded with violets and lilacs and kissed to rapturous applause once pronounced man and wife. It was an odd idea to Parker, to be somebodies something like that, promise forever and in the eyes of God. It was not an idea that had ever crossed her mind, being a wife. Having a husband. Man she had just sorted out what a best friend was and had yet to get a plant past it's three month anniversary. How these two could be so sure so young was impossible to understand, but she could see the sincerity of their vows and it touched her. That they believed it.

Eliot was quiet during the vows, his eyes clear and his expression closed, but his smile was wide and split open in delight for Cory as the young man whooped after the kiss. He obviously cared for the young man a great deal. It tugged at her. She sat up straighter. Eliot was not a romantic. He was like her. Tough and straight forward and didn't trust easy. He was loyal too. She ignored the running commentary on all of Eliot's qualities in her head and clapped as Mara swept into the open lawn beyond the pews to throw her small bouquet of violets and irises. Eliot elbowed her gently. She glared at him. He nodded, indicating she should join the other women who had all gathered good naturedly to catch the traditional good luck omen. Parker gripped her pew. She was not getting up there.

"Go on, what's the matter?" Eliot bent to ask her, his mouth brushing her ear as she moved. she swallowed as he halted at the touch, and closed her eyes.

"I really don't want to." She said it through a false smile as the women laughed amongst each other. She felt her stomach roll and chased away the memories that clouded above her. Not today. It was stupid to let such a dumb thing ruin the day.

"Parker it's just a silly tradition sweetheart. They won't hog tie you and make you marry a stranger if you catch it darlin'."

"They did once." The whisper was out and she swore under her breath and stood, brushing her dress off. Screw it, that was a long time ago and she wasn't that victim any more. She ignored the call of her name from Eliot. Concentrating on reaching the throng of glamorously dressed women. She had stolen the Hope Diamond and put it back just because she could. She could do this. She breathed through the stress. It was fine. Totally fine. Just stand and smile and walk away after. Not hard. Not scary.

She caught the damn bouquet on reflex as she scanned the faces of the laughing ladies and threw it to one of them immediately as if stung. Then wiped her hands on her dress, beyond disturbed. Still not learnt to let it fall. Still stupid Parker eager to please. Man she felt like a child again. And wanted to scrub the feeling away. Sometimes her instinctive reflexes were no freakin' help at all. She was staring at her skirts and hands and paying no attention to the gurgle of queries from the women about her. Just intent on getting the traces of bouquet off her hands.

Then Eliot was there, holding her hand and pulling her away from the curious looks and putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her forehead.

"Parker you okay?" He gritted the question at her skin, as if they were on a job in enemy territory and she knew he was protecting her, and she nodded woodenly. Of-course she was okay.

"It was just flowers," she said, and glanced back at the crowd about the new bride, and saw how happy they were in the sunshine, laughing about the girl who had caught it after Parker threw it like a live grenade at them. "I don't know what made me so...it's just flowers isn't it?"

The revelation was a wondrous one for Parker, and she felt pathetic for reacting so strongly to a memory not worth keeping. In any way. A memory best forgotten and buried. With so many others.

Eliot looked down at her, and seemed to breathe out a lungful of air as she stared back, free suddenly of the tethers her history often held her back with out of the blue. She smiled at him, and hugged his waist, grateful he was there.

"One day Parker," he said into her hair behind her ear, "you are gonna write me a list of names, and when you give me that list, you won't ever remember them again. Not a single one. You understand me Parker? They won't exist any more. Not anywhere, past or present."

Parker felt the vibration in his chest, and the vice like grip of his arms and knew exactly what Eliot meant. And when she looked up, and met his eyes, in a weird way, Parker felt like another vow had been made, and it was theirs and theirs alone. It resonated inside her as she accepted it.

"I have to go get set up a minute, you wanna come with?" He was serious and his concern two parts touching and one part maddening. She was fine on her own. She didn't need treating like glass. She had fought long and hard so she wouldn't be. But her anger wouldn't really take hold, so she just shook her head and let him out of her hug.

"I'm cool. Over it. Go on, I'm fine." She had to push him away when he stubbornly refused to budge and she made a dude-I'm-totally-fine face at him. "Go."

Finally his arm left her shoulder and he nodded, eyes darting to a group of men making their way to a barn a short distance away in the shaded clearing.

"OK. See you in a minute." Then he was off, jogging over to the group traipsing into the barn. Parker realised she hadn't asked where he was going. Or what he was setting up for.

Louise appeared at her side, joy etched all over her face.

"It was a beautiful ceremony." Parker was sure that was safe. Louise nodded, eyes bright in the sunshine.

"Wasn't it? Oh what a day." They stood together quietly for a few moments, listening to the congratulations and general chatter of the guests as they milled about the open air pews. The scent of forest and perfume and life seemed to fill Parker up from head to toe as the sun kissed her all over. Louise nestled in, and Parker let herself accept the comfort lightly offered. She felt peaceful.

"When my Paul died, I would never have imagined a day like this in our future you know." Louise was looking up, and Parker wondered if she was the one being spoken to for a heart aching moment, then realised it didn't matter. "You lose somebody and...well, the world stops spinning for a while. My Cory kept us from falling apart. He never even thought twice. Just took on a job, and the weight of the world like he was born to do it. And I know my Paul isn't gone. He's in that boy's eyes every time I look at him. And I don't give a damn if they got life in the wrong order. Because life is too short to be ordered like that. It's a road you walk, not a test you take."

Parker wondered if her sudden flash of tears would be noticed as she blinked into the azure sky above. God damn people and their hearts all breaking hers on this trip. She didn't want to care enough to fall out a moving truck again. But she knew why she was hearing this too. Like found like. Sad saw sad. It was a magnetic thing. A universal rule of recognition, she had yet to con in the real world.

"You'll make a wonderful grandmother Louise." Her voice cracked as she said it, and Louise put her arm about her and it was soft and wise and Parker wanted to put her head on the woman's lap and bawl. But she wouldn't.

"Yes I will. Come on child, help an old lady to the barn would you?" So Parker did.

/ /

Eliot was up on a stage at the back of the barn with a band. Parker felt an odd relief at the sight of him, and he caught her eye as she entered, helping Louise to the top table nearest the stage, but angled off to the left so the bass wouldn't deafen them. He looked anxious. Tight under the skin anxious, and she felt like an intruder suddenly. This had been his event. And she had gate crashed it, forcing him to share what he didn't want to, wasn't comfortable to. Guilt made her dizzy. She didn't like to share either. She didn't want him to feel anxious in front of his friends because of her.

He nodded to the side of the stage and she walked over, her head below his knees as he crouched down.

"Parker, this might be awkward."

"What?"

"I'm going to ask you to do something no grown man should ever freakin' have to ask but I'm kinda under the hammer here." His voice was low and his eyes wary.

Parker held out her little finger without thinking. He looked at it, and at her, then made the link.

She winked at him, not bothering with words since she knew exactly what he was asking. He nodded, brusque, but his eyes were warm and intense. Then leant down again, closer to her face, looking bothered again.

"Just don't..." He sighed and kissed her cheek, and she turned and caught his mouth. He groaned her name into the brief but scintillating kiss. His knee fell to the stage as he leant in and their mouths parted glossy and bee stung. It just wasn't enough Parker thought, greedy for more. He seemed to agree as their mouths smashed again, wilder this time as their eyes stayed locked as their lips met and he kissed her deep and hot and hard. Like he was branding her, which was fine by Parker. Brand away. She closed her eyes and stopped thinking about anything but the pleasure coursing through her hips and veins and she placed her hands on the stage as she strained closer. She wanted his tongue and hands and skin and hair all over hers, wrapped in hers, and she tip toed as he switched pace. Using his teeth he teased the tender skin just behind her top lip before licking it better intoxicatingly slowly and then slipped his tongue past her teeth to-

A band member coughed pointedly. Parker thought people should really be more careful about what they interrupted when silver ware was present. Eliot looked like he just he remembered where they were and ran a hand over his face, then looked at her like it was her fault. Again.

"Parker-" Not interested in his can'ts and verbal hand wringing she ignored him completely.

"Don't what?" Parker watched the room filling as people found their name cards set on the benches set either side of the barn, a space left clear in between for dancing? She figured so.

"Damned if I remember darlin'." He grimaced, eyeing her with a hunger that she recognised because she shared it. Then he shook it off and stood, hefting a guitar over his shoulder and across his chest, his suit jacket gone she realised. "Just stay out of trouble while I get this done all right?"

She nodded, and wandered up and down the benches as they filled with guests, searching for a place setting for Eric Randel, Eliot's name here. She found hers first, and glanced over at Louise on the head table in surprise, who smiled at her secretly. Nice lady. The gold printed name placement was for her. She glanced to the right and saw Erik. E_rik. _Incensed, Parker searched around for the culprit responsible but got distracted when she found Scarlet's card and spent a few minutes destroying months of careful planning by switching it for a card on the opposite bench. They had squeezed her in she thought, noticing that her and Eliot were on the end of the bench but not really caring. Having her own name card was worryingly heart warming. She slipped it into her dress when no one was looking. Then the guests went quiet and a guy at the top table picked up a mic and spoke.

"May we introduce Mr and Mrs Wentworth, for their first dance."

First dance? They had done more then dance by the size of her bump Parker figured, a little confused by the ceremony of it all. Usually she was cracking a safe at this point.

The couple walked onto the wooden dance-floor just in front of the stage and both were beaming. It was adorable, Parker had to admit, as the sunshine caused beans to light up the dust in the barn through the roof and the entire setting looked golden and dream like. Pretty.

Then a guitar began to play, and Eliot was singing low and gravelly and it frazzled her brain and swallowed her heart.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Just a quick note to anyone reading in the UK- be safe, stay in and I hope the rioting has not affected you. Gutted at what the gangs have done...:( Police were out in force in my city last night, so sad at the damage caused. Could have been worse though. Where's Eliot when you need some ass kicking eh?**

**Thank you for your concern, you lovely awesome people, I am cool though. Unfortunately my R/L troubles are economy related, business wise, but what can ya do? **

**Oh and reviews are my cereal. So yum and thanks a million. It really means a lot that you all read this and take the time to comment. :)**

**I wasn't going to post this and I don't know why. *shrugs* But like I would ever leave you hanging? ;)**

She stared at the stage transfixed, as everybody else watched the newly weds take hold, and begin to dance slowly, forehead to forehead, like they were the only people in the room. Parker watched Eliot, his eyes closed and fingers on the strings and thought she understood the feeling. The room had shrunk to accommodate two people for her too. He had a way of turning words into something haunting when he sang them, that country twang and honesty ripping her up and she was unable to tear her eyes away as his voice wrapped about the couple on the floor and curled up her spine.

_Its amazing how you can speak right to my heart_

_Without sayin' a word, you can light up the dark_

_Try as I may I can never explain_

_What I hear when you don't say a thing_

He opened his eyes and for a shatteringly piercing moment, he was singing right at her. Parker stared right back. He was stubborn and insulting and absolutely charming when he wanted and she had always known that, but it had taken time for them to trust each other, and that had mattered more once than the buzzy feelings he gave her some times on a job when they were so in sync. Now the current he plugged into her just with a look was addictive and she was no way ignoring it or denying it again. The fair hair on her arms prickled as he sang.

_The smile on your face let's me know that you need me_

_There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me..._

_The touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall_

_You say it best, when you say nothin' at all_

The guitar was like a delicate echo as his voice held the newly weds locked in a bubble, and her stomach rolled and her skin got tight. His voice was smoky and deep and licked all over her skin like electric kisses. Man he was good.

_All day long I can hear people talkin' out loud_

_But when you hold me near_

_You drown out the crowd_

_Try as they may they can never defy_

_What's been said between your heart and mine_

He was singing and playing and every word hurt as she wished fervently someone would be that sincere, that full of emotion for her. Which was ridiculous, since she had never been the slightest fanciful about things like that. Not at all. In a split instant, she knew without doubt that she had made the right choice about Hardison. Because she knew exactly who she wanted to think those things about her. And he was singing it raw on stage, and melting her mind with it. She also knew that she was straying into uncharted emotional territory and that was far more worrying than the physical yearning he inspired so she put it in the box rapidly filling with Eliot in her head.

_Oh the smile on your face let's me know that you need me_

_There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me_

_The touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall_

_You say it best, when you say nothin' at all..._

He bent his head and tapped his guitar, and Maria and Cory went over and hugged him for the song. The guests cheered and someone on a mic thanked Eric for his performance and Maria was beaming and Cory looked like a man just woken up, like he had lost time somehow. That's love she thought. Those two kids know more about it than I do. It was a weird thought to have and one she had never dwelt on before. Even with Hardison, _love_ hadn't crossed her mind, just, the dating and hanging out and trying to please and avoiding overt intimacy wherever possible. She knew quite clearly that it was a platonic emotion that welled inside for her best friend. Because platonic in no way summed up her feelings for Eliot. This churning in her stomach and rush in her blood was not tame or comforting. It was jagged and bouncy and all consuming. She didn't know what to do about most of it, but she had a good idea how she could cure the very keen need he created in her body, and wondered if soothing that ache would diminish the other, vaguer wants. Then figured it hardly mattered. She wasn't looking to wade deeper. She felt she was deep into something alien as it was.

Staring at Eliot as he tried to make himself invisible and leave the stage so the dance band could set up, she saw his name card, and snatched it up. Not happening. Not after that.

At the main table, Maria and Cory were seated and Parker crept below the bench, and off to the back toward the entrance where waiting staff were loading up carts with drinks and napkins and sundries. Behind her she was aware of laughter and a speech of some sort going on, but was far more interested in resolving the issue of the name card to listen intently.

She tracked the villain with the name cards and gold pen easy enough, the waiter still had them in his back pocket. He turned when she tapped his shoulder and looked puzzled.

"We aren't serving food yet ma'am, just wine and beer. Would you-"

Making sure no one was listening, she closed in, eyes cold and put her finger to her lips.

"Sh. Did you write this name card?" She flashed up the Erik. The boy nodded.

"Did you just hear that man singing? Hmm? Did you?" The waiter nodded a little more forcefully, fear in his eyes as she tapped the name card on his chest. "Does he sound evil?"

"No! Why no, why would you-"

"_That_, is Eric. _You_, have branded him evil with a k, and not good with a c. Do you see?

Do you see what you did?" The boy plainly didn't and Parker pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Seriously? Am I the only one who freakin' knows this? Erik with a k, bad, Eric with a c, good. My Eric, is good. Got it?" Her hiss got a little louder than she hoped and she glanced back, but all eyes of the guests were on the main table on Maria's father by the looks of him delivering a toast. Now the boy just nodded, hoping to escape when a guest turned around and waved him over.

"Got it ma'am and I am sorry if I could just-" Parker hauled him back by the collar as he made to leave.

"Oh no hotshot. Re write the card, now." He did so, scrawling it out on a new card from his back pocket. Parker was not impressed with his penmanship and frowned at him with narrowed eyes. Whipping the card from his hand she span away, then over her shoulder, "Remember the rule kid. It's rude to misspell people's names."

It pissed her the hell off on Eliot's, well Eric's behalf. He'd just brought grown men near to tears for gods sake, get his name right, it's just four little letters I mean-

"Parker?" Eliot came up behind her as she reached their spot at the end of a bench, and she whizzed the card onto the table quick. He didn't have to know about evil Erik's appearance.

"Eric." Oh he looked a little awkward, shy almost. Then put on his game face. Tough as nails Eliot Spencer. It made her chest tight.

She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him as thoroughly as humanly possible without crawling inside him and camping there. Damn it was good. This was definitely the way to go to soothe one ache anyhow. Definitely. He held back, then muttered _screw it_ and caved, wrapping one of his arms about her waist, avoiding her bruises and using the other to thread a hand through her hair and cradle her head. She was on fire the instant his tongue touched hers, and wanted to rub up on him like a cat on a scratching post. His hands lifted her waist and sat her on the table top as he stepped closer. Her mouth widened and allowed him deeper as he swept his tongue over hers and she met him stroke for stroke, which only had him kiss harder and she wondered if they may end up as one single biological unit and found that she didn't care if they did. Not at all. He bit her bottom lip and then drew it into his mouth and she met his eyes and knew hers had darkened, had felt every cell scream it's utter red alert status. His hand left her waist to find her knee under the skirts and his rough palm smoothing up her bare thigh toward her hip had her dizzy. His thumb drew patterns on her skin and his grip tightened when she hitched forward. The kiss became beyond erotic as he sucked her bottom lip deliciously and she sighed, wondering what else he could do with that mouth and how soon she could find out. He hands gripped his head and his jaw, the rough shadow electrifying against her palms. He was coconuty and fresh and edible.

They both grew conscious of the eyes of everyone at the table they were now actually sitting _on_ staring at them in the same instant. _Right. _Eliot withdrew from her mouth like he was diffusing a nuclear war head. His eyes were just a bit wild as their breathing filled the silence.

"Awkward" she_ singsonged_ under her breath. Eliot growled. Glancing over her shoulder Parker realised it was in fact the entire wedding hall watching. And she couldn't take them all out, hell Louise was nice and Maria was radiant and she could only really justify Scarlet's prompt demise.

Privacy. That's what was required. Like now.

"Well it appears we may be attending another wedding in the not too distant future!" The best man admirably saved the moment and the room chuckled and Eliot looked green at the idea, which gave her some satisfaction. He had busted written all over him. So much for his not kissing plan she thought, extremely proud of herself as she smiled at the audience and winked at Scarlet and gave a little wave at those now laughing, taking it well, high spirits and all that.

Eliot sat down and dragged her off the tabletop and onto the seat with him, before bending to speak in her ear, tickling her hair and teasing her newly sensitive skin.

"Seriously Parker? What the hell was that for?" He didn't sound really mad about it. More bewildered and growly. His hand lay on her thigh and she wiggled closer on the bench.

"Eliot said it was a bad idea," she told him in a low tone. "Eric on the other hand-" she bent in and kissed his neck lightly, because it was close and he smelt nice, before continuing, -" well he seems to like it so we can do whatever we want. Oh and I really liked his song."

Eliot thought about that as she watched, and stared at her a little too long, eyes bright and mouth parting then closing tight, before looking into the guests all chatting and laughing as the best man made the rarest of things, a joke that worked. There were a few curious looks aimed at them but nothing too obvious. Not like they were laying full stretch on the table for Gods sake, Parker thought idly, then gripped the table top and patted it, testing it's strength. Could they do that? She wondered if the thing would hold. He looked back and his eyes took in her concentrated tests on the table top. He put a hand to his mouth and ran it down his jaw.

"I don't do relationships Parker." He sounded hoarse.

"Not new information Eric." Still stung after her self examination earlier though but whatever. Spiteful resentment washed through her as he sat there handsome and detached. Detached was her thing and she wanted it back. "You know, I didn't think you'd be such a prude about this, but if you aren't interested in exploring my options in this area I totally get it. I'll just find someone else willing to explore them with me. It's all good." She patted his thigh and felt him tauten to almost snapping point beneath her hand. She whispered confidingly. "It's a wedding right? How hard could it be to-"

"Parker, you aren't exploring anything with anyone." He grabbed a beer off the table and glared at the guy whose it was, who wisely decided to just let the issue go, and downed it in one. Since Parker knew without question that no one else was going to be able to satisfy the need he wrought in her, and also that after their display no man in the place would dare lay a hand on her in that fashion, she wondered why he bit so hard. He was difficult to bluff usually, always just staring at you, like, really? You think I'm buying that? Interesting and mildly annoying.

"Pretty sure that was a Rule Four break there you know." She smiled apologetically at the poor man whose beer was swiped.

"Nope. I'm picking up the freakin' tab. Technically it's mine." Oh. He was footing the bill? Somehow she knew he hadn't meant to say that when he frowned and clutched the now empty bottle tighter.

"That's a really-" He interrupted her attempt at a compliment impatiently.

"You will not, under any circumstances be exploring anything with some strange guy. Do you understand me Parker?"

God his obey me voice was getting her hands clammy and made her womb clench. He could be a real stubborn a hole when he wanted she thought A hot one, but still. Did he not get what a huge deal it was for her to be so open about this? That for her desire to have cracked the surface of her usual cool façade was thrilling and terrifying? That she was scared of what she wanted but felt secure enough to express it because he was Eliot? Whatever happened he would not hurt her. Physically he was built to protect. It gave her the sense of throwing herself off a building with a safety net, and this time she needed that net. The net was Eliot. It hurt that he didn't want to be it.

"Why?" It was suddenly very important that he explain because she'd had no intention of doing so anyway and it made her furious that he really thought she might. Had she not just kissed him with intent? He closed his eyes and his head tipped back.

"Not playing this game with you darlin'."

"That's the trouble _Eric_." Parker wanted to scream in frustration at his hard headedness, but spoke low as they all raised a glass to toast the happy couple. "I'm not playing a game. I couldn't be more obvious unless I sky wrote it. Whatever. I really do suck at this sed-"

Eliot caught her hand off his thigh and swept it across his pants with a feral glare. Parker was shocked at the explicit act and extremely interested in the erection straining at his fly that she felt intimately as a result. Hmmm.

"Happy now? I won't be standing for a freakin' week at this rate. You need to feel like an attractive woman capable of owning a man by his balls? Well done Parker, mission accomplished." Eliot was seriously sexy when being quiet and honest Parker realised, and she shouldn't be pushing him so hard about it, but they were more alike then he knew. She was endlessly patient with her work, and utterly impatient when it was non-work related. She wasn't going to hang around now she knew what she wanted. Louise's words were still ringing in her head.

"Erik with a k after all. " Parker sighed, and put her head on his shoulder. He waved over a waiter, not the idiot one, and ordered a beer. Then made it two.

"What's that now?" He glanced at her puzzled, his cheeks still flushed and blue-grey eyes bright. His hands holding the empty bottle were fidgeting, something he rarely did and she studied his fingers as they began to peel the bottles label off.

"Nothing." The speeches were over finally, and the band took to the stage, and the lead singer announced that food was being served and for folks to have a good time.

Waiters were pushing carts along and unloading dishes of hot potatoes and salad and steaming vegetables and placing them all in the centre of each table, an endless chain of food. Parker was hungry and food would have to do so she craned her neck to see when it would reach them.

"Hey is it just side dishes for dinner? I'm starving."

"Steak or salmon. I ordered you steak." Eliot took another slug of his freshly delivered beer and Parker grabbed the other, ignoring his warning frown as she took a swig.

"Thanks E-ric." The urge to say Eliot was instinctive. Parker scanned the hall and spotted Scarlet on the other side on her cell. The red head looked sexy and sophisticated in that dress. Sure, only assassins or mistresses wore red to a wedding, but it looked amazing and Parker grabbed a bread roll and started chewing as she wondered how she could make Eliot lose his principles in the next hour. Scarlet was eyeing him from a distance, and though Eliot was clear nothing had gone on, Louise had seemed to insinuate that at the very least scarlet wanted there to be. Did she make a play for him when he visited? Would she try despite the floor show? God she hated all these questions in her head. Suddenly she was the woman who snarled at strangers because of a man. When the hell had that happened?

"Parker we need to get this situation under control before we go back to Boston. You know that right?" Was that a promise? Parker frowned and chomped on her bread roll.

"What do you mean under control?"

"Resolved. No-not resolved, damn it, we need to..." Parker raised an eyebrow at him as he struggled with the realisation that she had already made earlier. It made a change to catch on first. This situation only had one logical method of controlling it. Ignoring it wasn't going to work. She stroked his thigh toward his crotch and his knee hit the table. He glared at her.

"All in favour of controlling the situation as many times as possible before morning? Aye." She put her hand up and grinned at him. For a moment she thought he was going to yell, he looked so very frustrated, but then he nodded and looked tormented and relieved all at once. And then he grinned as if letting the worry go taking a swig of his beer. He cocked his head at her. His expression guarded and thoughtful.

"You know this will ruin us don't you?" Oh. He really was deadliest with words sometimes. She blinked and faced him, elbows on the table and hair tickling her arms where it fell.

"No. Why would it?"

"Well look what happened with H." His eyes searched for hers and he studied her as he destroyed the bottles remaining labels.

"We didn't have sex and me and Hardison are fine."

"Whoa, TMI Parker." Then. "Not even close?" Huh, what did he care?

"Nah." she shrugged, uncomfortable speaking about it. "But I don't see what that has to do with us."

"There isn't an _us_ Parker."

"Then there's nothing to ruin then is there?" She obliterated a bread roll and ate it piece by pierce. Dude was talking in crazy circles. "Problem solved let's get to-"

"Not what I meant Parker, I mean, yeah there's an us, but not like with you and... " he cursed and gave up, with her or himself she wasn't sure. "Forget it. I gotta go talk to Lou about the guests who are staying over, make sure no one goes mountain climbing in the dark. Enjoy your steak."

"Wait what-" The waiter placed her steak on the table and she watched Eliot stride across the hall to Louise, and take her elbow politely. He really was a gentleman. The waiter passed her a napkin with her cutlery and she accepted it distractedly.

She made up a plate and ate, smiling at her fellow guests and thinking hard. She wondered if Eliot still was, then sighed. Dude was a nightmare. She just wanted to have sex for Gods sakes, pretty sure that would stop the other fuzzy feelings in his direction. People lost interest after sex right? Sophie said so. Well men apparently did because they were dick-led soulless bastards. Her words.

Maybe Parker was built that way too. She mulled on it.

"What happens after dinner?" she asked the guy opposite and down a few seats and he paused, before taking another mouthful of food.

"Music, drinking, dancing, the usual wedding revelry."

"And how long does that last again?"

"Could go on all night, there's a lot of us staying at the rentals and leaving tomorrow." He smiled easily, dull but nice. "You got somewhere you gotta be lady?"

"Thanks." She dismissed him and looked back over at Eliot, frowning. Hell yeah, she did and she wasn't waiting till the last drunk passed out to get there either.

****** Lyrics not mine lol. Song in case you don't know it (though I think you might!) is:**

**When You Say Nothing At All, written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz******


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Notes: So yeah, I figured I need to up the rating. Mature Content follows.  
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**Warnings: There is a reason the rating was upped so be aware!**

**If you read and review, you make my day :D So thank you xx**

Eliot was well aware he was being an idiot. He wasn't happy with the knowledge either. Louise, the serene mother of the groom let him ramble on about making sure folks left the barn in groups to walk back to the rental houses, in order to avoid unnecessary accidents on the trails and losing those a bit worse for wear, looking at him with knowing eyes the whole time. Hell everyone was looking at him with knowing eyes since he had lost control so epically and made out with Parker. In the middle of the speeches and in plain view. What the hell was he thinking? The damn thief had had some sort of sexual epiphany and seemed intent on sharing that exclusively with him.

So what the hell was he doing talking to the lovely Louise about possible security issues for the guests when he could be dragging Parker from the building and taking her to bed?

Oh man. Parker was irresistibly infuriating most days anyway. With dirty promises in her eyes she was plain irresistible. But she had just ended things with Hardison, and that courtship had been slow and sweet and based on her being comfortable with the hacker. What was this? Go to the hitter for your one night stand needs? Was he a freakin' one stop shop for horny thieves? Parker wanting to sleep with him should not be making him think shit like that. But damn it, he felt used. Parker wasn't declaring love or asking to be his girlfriend. That right there should be right up his alley. Yet it bothered him. It bothered him that she thought they could have sex and it not affect them after. Eliot swallowed back the worryingly mushy thoughts and grabbed another beer.

The skin of her thighs had been soft and warm and way too inviting. Her mouth begged to be kissed whenever in the vicinity of...well him. And she was feisty with it, her hands firm, no artifice in her passion. She wanted, and she showed it. So unlike the calculating women he was partial to. They played games to increase your interest, acted coy, teased and toyed, trying to illicit an emotional connection, but Eliot was never fooled. Artificial and superficial were just that for a reason. Even her play about messin' with someone else willing was straight up teasing, and yet he had took it way too serious and she had been confused by his response. Well he was too.

Fuck. Eliot wanted her bad. And despite her words, which may well be true, he was pretty sure a taste would not be enough. Not nearly. Not for him and he was man and fool enough to know it. She would still be sexy as hell after, still Parker, still addictive, crazy, smart ass Parker. How was sleeping with her gonna make that not true or not an issue? It wasn't, that's how.

He lingered at the top table talking with the newly-weds, accepting the ribbing from Cory with good grace, and tried to get a grip. If Parker wanted to and he wanted to, why was he holding back? Hardison wasn't an issue, though it was a little close for Eliot's liking. Was Parker vulnerable and reaching out? Should he chill and not let things go too far? He glanced over and saw her staring into the distance across the hall, her chin on her hand, hair shiny and bright and cleavage enticing in the square necked dress. She was leaning forward, and he knew she probably had one suede boot sat on the table bar to raise her knee, the way she always sat. He thought of her panic with the bouquet. Thought of the rage it instilled in him. A guy asked her something and she responded shortly, not turning to face the guy, who was also getting a look of that neck line as it dipped forward as she leaned. He was moving before he knew to tell his feet, threading through those who had finished their meals and ventured onto the dance floor in-front of the stage and between the two tables.

The band were playing country, and the guests getting happy. Parker looked pensive. And that guy spoke again, this time she frowned and Eliot felt violence brewing in his fists. He had made his decision by the time he reached her, and screw the consequences.

Ignoring the guy still hovering else he may end up killing the interloper just for breathing, he stood at the end of the table and coughed.

She looked at him with slit eyes, angry and bruised. He could feel her confusion, and felt like a dick.

"Aye."

"Excuse me?"

"_Aye_. Now shut up and dance with me, and we'll get out of here as soon as possible." Man he said that roughly and waited, letting it sink in. The devilish gleam in her eyes told him when she cottoned on and she stood immediately, grinning.

"Really?"

"I thought I said shut up?"

"You want to dance with me?" Jesus, that's what she was focusing on? Contrary, his thief was. He didn't bother correcting his description. Tonight, she was his thief. They'd deal with the reality in Boston. And Boston was a long ass way away right now.

"Yeah Parker, I wanna dance with you." And rip your clothes off and bury myself in you hip deep, but yeah, it's the dancing that's important. He took her hand and walked her to the edge of the dance-floor by the stage, looking to give them cover since he had no clue how this was going to go down. He glanced at the entrance and the stage door at the back. Couldn't help it. He noted how many guys were drunk already and who looked maudlin with it, the loud ones were easy the depressed ones dangerous.

Parker was lit from within, her eyes beyond blue, and the twinkling lights that had been arranged at the barns ceiling were switched on, though it was only just sunset outside. Eliot refused to think any more. It had him in knots any how. He slipped his arms around her waist and let his hands sit on her hips, and she put her arms about his shoulders. The band were doing covers, and the pace was mid tempo, so he spun her out and grinned when she pirouetted and returned to place a hand at his chest. The song was Rascal Flatts but he hardly heard the words, just the rhythm and Parker's carefree smile as she moved with him. Man she was beautiful. He dipped his head and kissed her quick, unable to think of a damn reason not to.

"What was that for? Are we done yet?" God her straight forward query hit him square in the gut. He grinned, and span her again. Her hair flew out and she returned a little flushed, cheeks peachy and lips parted.

"I thought you couldn't dance, except your Beyonce impression?" Oh now he was thinking of her in that elevator and his muscles tightened.

"I can't dance." She looked puzzled, even as she swayed and dipped with him and he grinned, pressing his hands to her hips, his thumbs on her hip bones through her dress and felt himself harden, thinking of later. He wanted to cut and run now, but she was happy and bright and he couldn't tear her from the lights.

"What do you think we're doing Parker?" He teased, and pressed his lips to her forehead, linking their hands and switching their position so he could spin her with one hand and catch her with the other. She laughed and her fingers linked with his tightly. Giving him other ideas. She leant in to his ear to reply.

"I thought this was foreplay." Floored him again. She just stared at him as his mouth went dry and blood pounded in his veins. Stupidly, he hadn't imagined that as an answer. But this was Parker, who never really did anything expected.

He pulled her tighter and settled their hips together, needing the contact. He glanced at the guests and shuffled them closer to the corner of the floor. The band struck up a new song. Something Beautiful, by Needtobreathe and suddenly all he could hear were the words as she pressed into his chest, and stirred him so deep he was pretty sure she was rewriting his DNA with her eyes.

_Hey now, this is my desire, consume me like a fire, _

_'Cause I just want something beautiful to touch me_

_I know that I'm in reach, 'cause I am down on my knees_

_Waiting for...something beautiful._

The band rocked it out but he was lost to something beautiful as he bent down to kiss her, and Parker responded, softly. He kissed her as gently as he knew how, wanting to cherish her and ravish her all at once. He was not gonna survive this, and he really didn't care. Then she was slipping her tongue across the seam of his lips and gentle was forgotten as they all but stopped moving just to kiss. And kiss.

He groaned and pulled away and she wasn't having it this time, tugging his head down with determined hands.

"Parker honey, we gotta wait till later, I can't keep-we need a bed darlin'." He kept it low, and wondered at the circumstances leading to him ever saying those words to Parker and having them make perfect sense. Huh.

"Why?" She kissed his jaw as they pretended to dance, the song ricocheting in his brain and heightening his awareness of every inch of skin she was displaying, every possibility of their skin touching. His hands slid up her back, mindful of her bruising and reached the bare shoulder blades above, circling her skin with his thumbs.

"Why what?" He buried his head in her neck and nipped at her, then wondered why he was torturing himself.

"Why do we need a bed?" She left his throat and found his mouth, and he honestly couldn't think of a reason as she wriggled close, kissing him greedily. His brain misfired as her hands caught his ass and he felt his hard on press against her thigh. She stopped the kiss and met his gaze head on, eyes blazing. "We can use a bed later can't we? What if the barn gets hit by lightning and we die? I don't think we should risk it."

"Damn Parker." He felt his heart near explode at her solemn reasoning, and swallowed. It was just sex right? Why was he fixated on the bedroom? That was for soft and slow. He wanted hard and now. He picked his jacket from the side of the stage and shucked it on swiftly, flipping his ponytail over the collar and caught her hand and dragged her to the back stage door, glancing at the room to check if they were watched. The band was striking up another rocker and the guests were cutting loose on the floor and laughing at tables. All good.

Parker swung him round to the back of the barn and jumped, hooking her legs about his waist and catching his face in her hands to kiss him hungrily. Jesus she was not kidding about waiting.

Finally free of witnesses, outside in the darkened sunset, the sky blood red and indigo reflecting on the tree canopies of the hillside, Eliot kissed her back with every ounce of the need punching through his lungs. Cupping her backside, his cock twitched as she ground at him, eager, and he had to take a minute, feeling like a horny teenager with her arms wrapped about him and her hair silky where its slid at his throat and face. Fuck. He wanted to throw her down but wouldn't, knowing her injuries would hurt if he lost control.

"Parker, you sure?"

"Hell yes. Stop talking." She smiled into his kiss and his heart hiccuped painfully. Damn she was literally giving him a heart attack. He knew where to go, because he wasn't making love to Parker up against a damn barn fully clothed. Hell no. He carried her easily, and she fit on him like a glove, her skirts swishing as he walked, her mouth at his, nipping his jaw, licking at his exposed throat, teasing his pulse point, driving him crazy. His pants were tight and stomach taut as her breasts pressed close, and he prayed he could make it as his hands clutched at her ass, her thighs at his waist vice like. Man, his head was swimming. He had to put her down when he reached the track, and she protested, but when he took her hand to lead her down the steep track she followed, trusting him.

It took a few minutes of scrambling down the rough hidden track, but they were both nimble and he was conscious of her every second. He had a seconds anxiety that she would not like the secret glade but went with his gut anyway.

When they reached the forest floor and stood in the clearing, she looked at him and smiled.

"Really?"

"You're still hurt Parker. This'll work."

Parker turned and swept her hair away for him to undo her buttons. She was in. This time he kissed every inch of skin exposed with each unhooked button, licking at the tender skin and tasting her sweet scent in his mouth. Her bruises were dark beneath the moody scarlet and mauve sky, and he kissed them softly, wishing he could make them disappear. She wasn't hampered by them though. Tough ass sexy Parker. When the last was undone, he slid his hands into the dress and reached around to cradle her flat stomach, feeling her muscles trembling as he pressed his mouth to her neck and teased her sensitive skin. She mewled, the noise shooting straight to his groin, and turned around, the bodice of her dress falling to her waist to reveal her bra, but she was too busy divesting him of his jacket to care. He helped. His waistcoat and shirt went next, her hands smoothing his back and chest and his hard on twitched again. Her appreciative hot eyes on his skin and torso had his balls aching and hips knocking forward. Shit he was going to have to try hard not to embarrass himself here.

She removed her bra with a confidence he enjoyed, and dropped the garment on top of his. Seeing her half naked in the clearing, trees all about and the sky reflected in the clear pool behind them, he swallowed. She looked like a sprite, a delicious woodland long legged pixie designed to turn his stomach to knots and his will power to ash. His skin burnt under her gaze and crackled with expectancy, and he tried to breathe but it was becoming hard to remember to do it. Reverently, seeing a shy light in her eyes despite her boldness, he bent and caught one exposed nipple in his mouth, lapping at it, holding the other breast in his hand. She was soft and firm and utterly feminine in his palm and he suckled harder, greedy to own her, own all of her. Her head tipped back, and her throat column bared, and he raised his free hand to hold her nape, as he switched attention to the other nipple. She was swelling in his mouth and puckering beneath his hand and he could hear nothing but her breathing and the rustle of leaves and stillness of water all around and the sound of his mouth suckling her flesh. Just sex. Yeah.

"Eliot." An urgent whisper, and he was glad she used his name, glad she knew they were safe enough to. He looked up, tongue still lathing one breast, the feel of her in his mouth intoxicating.

"Is it supposed to be this way?" She sounded a little nervous and he hesitated.

"What way darlin'?"

"I just-I didn't know it could be special."

Well fuck him she was trying to steal his heart and cock and enslave him. No other excuse for being so damn adorable during sex. He raised his head and kissed her hard, having no words to answer, so letting his tongue do the talking. She opened up and let him in, and he groaned as she sucked his tongue and then duelled with him, all hands on his back and nails raking his skin.

"Harder darlin'." He ordered it low and she complied, digging her nails into the dip of his back above his ass.

"Like that?" She kissed him harder and his erection snapped at her thighs. Oh yeah, once with Parker was not going to enough.

"Yeah darlin' just like that." Half hiss half groan, his words made her smile.

Her dress was removed completely in a tangle of arms and murmured endearments as he kissed her arm's and the inside of her elbows and any damn skin within reach of his mouth. She stood in her black tiny bikini briefs and suede boots and he thought he may go blind from the effort of trying not to thunder at her. She bent down and picked up a card, and placed it on her dress, and he saw it was her name place card and his heart couldn't take it. Hands undoing his fly, he hustled out of his trousers and bit back an oath as she claimed his chest with hot kisses, licking at his flat dark nipples with fierce concentration, and swirling one with her tongue. Man, he closed his eyes and hissed. He was so into this his skin was on fire on cock throbbing and head swimming as he fought to leash the oncoming climax. Climax. Common sense prevailed and his stomach dropped and back rolled angrily in protest. Fuck. Double damned fuck.

"Darlin' I didn't think to, we can't actually-"

Parker reached into her boot and pulled out a foiled condom.

"How'd'you..." She raised an eyebrow at him, like, hello, thief? And he grinned. He could love her. He really could.

Ignoring that heart smashing emotional admission he swooped her tight to his cock holding her backside, her skin warm and smooth in his hands. He wanted to do a million things in a million ways with her, but his control was fried and she was glowing and naked and he was only fucking human after all. Kissing her fiercely, plunging his tongue inside her soft wet mouth he hooked a thumb beneath her briefs gusset and felt her quake, as his thumb tickled curls. Oh man he was going to lose it. She clung to him, making breathy noises into his kiss and slid one leg up his, smooth against rough, allowing his thumb deeper. Electricity thrummed up his spine and sent heated pleasure signals to every cell in his body. Focus Eliot. He spun her around and held her lightly, her back to his chest and nestled her ass against his cock, sweating in the warm dusky air. Kissing her neck, open mouthed and slow, he put one arm over her, her breasts pressing against his skin,and stroked her stomach toward her navel with wide spread fingers and a flat palm. His skin was coarse against her softness. She moaned, her hands clutching at his bare thighs behind her to either side. Unable to wait he slipped his hand beneath her underwear. She arched into him, bruises forgotten and twisted her head to kiss him fervently as he stroked her wet heat. Fuck she was ready. Silky soft folds and delicate curls trembled under his rough hand and he hesitated a fraction before slipping a finger inside her, cupping her from the front as she squirmed onto his palm. He pushed slowly, and growled as she cried then clamped a hand over her mouth. The sound almost broke his failing control. She was swollen and hot about him, and his head span a second too long.

"You okay?" He asked and nibbled her ear, and she rolled her hips in answer. He smiled and plunged his finger deep, feeling her wet and tight about him. His thumb stroked up, and found the swollen nub so desperately tender that when he stroked she shot up, gasping into the clearing.

"Eliot, I want you now. Right now." Well he wasn't going to argue with that he decided, having her ass bounce against his cock was the sweetest torture he had ever endured. He raised his hand and turned her back to face him, and she slipped off her pants and just stood in her boots and was perfect. Totally perfect.

"You're gonna have to lose the boots honey." He had disposed of his own shoes and socks already and now took care of his boxers. Parker bent down, hair falling like sunshine and her ass reared up and her back was bruised but perfectly formed and he swallowed.

She looked up as she stood and her eyes landed on his cock. Jesus she was practically fisting him with her eyes and he had a moment stripped bare of objective thought, just a man being owned utterly by his lovers blue eyes. Lover. Parker was his lover. His spine roared and he swallowed, waiting for her to pass the condom wrapper, incapable of speech as his throat thickened unexpectedly. She got up close, but fell to her knees instead and licked the head of his cock right up, killing him. Completely killing him.

"Jesus Christ Parker!" He bodily reacted and winced at how close the simple caress had him to the edge. "What are you-"

"I really like this sex thing Eliot. A lot." She stood again, a sliver of lily silver kissed hotness, hair wild and stunning, and he ignored the warnings flashing through his heart at the sight of her lush mouth and diamond eyes.

"Darlin' we ain't done yet." He grabbed the wrapper and in one economical movement sheathed himself, feeling tight and hard and way too edgy. "C'mere."

She did, and he hauled her into his arms, letting her wrap her arms about his neck and her legs about his waist as he waded them into the water, which was cold but not freezing.

"Eliot!" She squealed as it hit her backside. "It's cold!"

"I'm gonna warm you up sweetheart don't worry about it." He kissed her hard and hot and licked and nipped and she folded into his chest, nipples grazing his in a way that had his head spinning. This was happening again. A lot. Using one hand he found her curls and hutched her up, legs sliding at his hips, but she needed no guidance and in one fluid motion, settled onto the head of his cock and he slid home.

Both gasped loudly, and he met her eyes, darkened almost black in the half light. She was biting her lip and looked like and angel. A wet horny angel as he waded deeper, gritting his teeth as the water covered his hips and he fought to stay in charge, having her fitting him so snug sparking endless waves of pleasure up his spine and vibrating through his hips. He found her nipples and licked each hungrily, wanting to ease her in, even as she shook, eyes wide and he could hear thunder in his ears where his pulse should be.

Fuck. She was tight and warm and wet. He let her lay back a little in the water, her hair trailing, then fanning on the surface as she let her torso submerge. The buoyancy of the water let her float and move without straining tender muscles. The sight of her stretched out, breast facing the sky, water gliding over her stomach, he would remember it every night after, he knew it. She stared at him, pink lips parted, an order in those eyes he had no intention of disobeying. Gripping her hips, he began to move, feet planted on the bed of the glade pool, and she rolled her hips to meet his rhythm. She made little cries at the apex of each thrust and it thrilled him. He started slow, conscious of how tight she was, as she lay back and undulated at his groin in the water. Oh man he was struggling to contain the urgency of his need, his hips jerking at her, his skin buzzing and blood roaring. She lifted her head and looked at him, dazed and lust drunk and he bit his lip even as his hand reached out to cup one slippery breast thumbing her nipple. Fuck. He couldn't hold it. Grabbing both of her hips in place at his, he let loose and went at her like a jack hammer, utterly lost to the staccato beat of their hearts and her wet glove gripping him tight with each thrust.

Parker slid wet firm hands up his arms and he lifted her up by her ass, switching to grip her hips as she crushed her slippery breasts at his chest and he bit back an oath at the electric contact. She clutched his neck, wrapping her arms so tight about him he could hardly breathe but didn't give a damn, her mouth on his and his cock pounding inside her as her inner muscles squeezed and trembled by turn. Jesus she was passionate and direct and hot as hell and he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent and the woodlands and never had breathing been so erotic as when it was her little gasps and needy sighs against his mouth. His climax was imminent and he dipped one hand to her cleft and circled her clitoris, a satisfied smile on his face as his name exploded into the silence of their haven. Pleasure was splintering through him, sharp and bright, blurring his vision.

"Eliot!" She was needy and greedy and he felt her climax rush over him as she shook and stuttered at his waist, her legs limp then tightening hard. He pumped hot and hard and saw stars as his orgasm ripped up his spine and into his brain and into outer fucking space. She had let his mouth go as her head lolled into his shoulder, her wet hair plastered to his shoulder and torso. His heart rate was beyond his control and his breathing ragged as he panted and his orgasm rolled again through his hips. She twitched at his groin, her slick entrance pulsating at him. Bleeding him dry.

"I think we should do that again." Parker was winded but delighted and sated at his throat and he wanted to laugh but didn't want to dislodge himself.

"Really?" He teased, utterly hot and satisfied and owned, and caught her mouth in a languid kiss."I wasn't that into it."

"Shut up." She smacked his back playfully and wriggled on his still throbbing cock to demonstrate what she thought to that. He grinned, wildly, utterly content with life at that moment.

"Yes ma'am." He kissed her collar bone, her throat, her jaw as he waded them to the shore, and she sighed prettily, her arms locked about his head with no intention of letting go.

On the shore, he slid her off and they both grabbed their clothes, aware that they were soaked and Eliot shrugged, definitely not caring. Not like he was returning to the wedding party now anyhow, not when he could take her home and do that again. He snapped the condom and with a grimace, wrapped it in a napkin from his pocket, not wanting to be pulled from the satiated state with practicalities but unable to toss it like trash.

Buttoning his shirt, as she hauled on her dress sans underwear, they glanced at each other, and shit, he was getting jaw ache from smiling so damn much and felt like an idiot, but damn he couldn't stop the smiles happening. She didn't bother with her buttons and he gave her his jacket, draping it over her shoulders after kissing them first and she grinned, pulling on her briefs beneath the skirt and then her boots.

Eliot figured words needed to be said. But he wasn't sure what and how, so kept quiet, letting the buzz fade to a glow. She tied her wet hair into a top knot and pierced through with a skewer from her boot and he figured it was safest not to ask why she came prepared for such an eventuality, pretty sure the skewer was a weapon not a hair prop, and wondered what the hell else she had tucked in those boots. It piqued his curiosity, her secrecy and ability to shock him. In a good way. A very good way.

"So have we controlled the situation now?" Parker grinned at him, playful and bright and utterly spellbinding. He was aware he should avoid such thoughts but they came automatically with her, and damned if he could argue any of them. She was all those things and more. Damn thief.

"I think we may have to go again to make sure darlin', how 'bout you?"

"Uhm, that's okay, I wasn't really into it." His heart buzzed too loud at her teasing and laughter, and he kissed her again because why the hell not?

He knew something was wrong in the next instant as his internal alarms started ringing. Watched. Suddenly, the sensation of being watched was intense and undeniable and he let her go and put her behind his back, warrior ready, body on high alert, muscles straining.

She remained quiet, sensing his shift in focus and tucked behind him without argument.

Eliot scanned the clearing, the trees, the embankment that dropped into it. Nothing. Minutes ticked by and his skin stretched to snapping point, his tension unparalleled.

A red dot appeared on his chest and his eyes dropped to it and his worst fears were confirmed. Every sense screamed at him. Fool. Fucking idiot leading them here into a trap, a glade with one exit and one entrance. Fucking rookie move. But he hadn't been thinking with his hunter brain, he had been intent on Parker and now she was in danger because of it. He wanted to throw up. He had screwed up royally and it shamed him.

In the trees, he spotted the rifle, glinting briefly and his abs tautened. If the plan was to kill them they'd be dead already. Who was it and how many and what did they want? Questions battered his brain and he wanted to kick his own ass for his recklessness.

"Hello Eliot." Scarlet stepped down from the slope into the embankment and he stilled in stunned shock. Scarlet? How the fuck did she know his name? What the hell was going on here?

"The names Eric as you are well aware. What the hell are you doing Scarlet?" He tried to contain his rage but it scorched across his words. He wasn't above hitting a woman if she threw down first. This bitch had Parker trapped and he wasn't in a forgiving or merciful mood as a result.

"Oh come on Eliot. Let's not do that shall we? Damien is looking forward to your reunion. I think a more accommodating attitude may be in order don't you?" He seethed as fear and rage threatened to burst from his lungs in a roar. Fuck. Damien? How the hell?

"I'm not interested in visiting him in jail but thanks for the invite all the same lady."

"Oh I think you will be when you turn around Eliot." He didn't want to, and forced himself to remain blank faced as he did. Parker was relying on him. He couldn't snap. He turned and she was staring at him wide eyed, a red dot glowing right between her eyes, angled from further up the embankment than his own personal sniper.

"It's gonna be okay." He made the promise low, and she barely flinched, and Eliot wondered how a perfect moment could be so fucking violated, then bit back the snarl the thought engendered.

His fault. His past. His fuck up.

"Excellent. Let's go shall we?" Scarlet span on a heel and snapped her fingers over her shoulder at them. "It's a very humid evening, I wouldn't want a slip on a trigger to see your girlfriends brains all over your shirt Eliot. Keep up."

He was going to kill her. No mercy at all.


	21. Chapter 21

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Parker vanished exactly forty seven seconds after they began to climb the embankment.

Gone.

Eliot didn't flinch, keeping his eyes forward as he climbed, trying to give her as much time as possible before the sniper realised he had his cross hairs settled on an abandoned jacket draped over an overhanging branch.

Man she was lightning. A surge of pride coursed through him, that she knew to react so quickly, knowing that the steep incline was their best option to attempt escape as the snipers were hampered by the scrub and overhanging branches in the deepening dark of the evening.

That's my girl, he thought. Even as murderous intentions fuelled his veins, he knew it was true. She was _his_ girl. The bastard who had aimed a bullet toward her brain was going to discover what a stupid life choice that had been very soon. Parker was smart and quick. She let him do his thing on jobs mostly, stepping back from the spray of limbs, sometimes acting as a distraction if needed, or applying a swift heel to a skull on occasion. She trusted him to do his work; even when they clashed, both respected the others skills. That worked for them now.

She had an advantage with the dark jacket, but had traded the camouflage it gave for the chance it afforded and he approved.

There were a dozen questions he wanted to bark at Scarlet but he kept silent praying that Parker had found a safe spot to hole up in.

He only had a short window to act in, since the sniper would detect the trick in a matter of seconds.

Pooling the centre of calm he required, he channelled his breathing and counted. On three, he dropped and rolled into the brush to his right, snagging his skin on the sharp branches, and ignoring the sharp bite of torn skin. His paranoia reared it's head when no shot rang out in his wake. He schooled it, since it wouldn't help immediate matters. Heart rate settling into a beat he knew well, he lost the waistcoat and shirt, since the white would be a luminous sign in the dark and crawled on his stomach up the steep slope using the undergrowth as cover. Eliot was aware that he may kill. That the choice may not be his. He made peace with it matter of factly. The snipers were not window dressing. The sickening crack of a shot fired into the glade below caused his lungs to crash, imagining Parker, bloodied, wounded, worse. He refused to believe she had been caught. It was a warning. Well bring it on he thought grimly, smiling to himself in the dark. He knew where one of the bastards was hiding now.

He approached from behind, stealth itself, and caught the enemy combatant in a choke hold, his arm muscles straining as the guy responded with clawed fingers. Eliot kneed him in the back and sent him sprawling face first, kicking the rifle from its position and booting the sniper in the face with a crunch of bone in the same fluid movement. He felt utterly still inside, as he always did when violence took over and his instincts battered his skin bloody from within. It was always a fine line between discipline and destruction. He had crossed it before, but wouldn't again.

The black clad figure now prone on the forest floor had the hair on his neck standing however as he took in the clothing and the sniper nest set up. His gut squeezed. The rifle was dissembled in short order, and useless in seconds. A thread of panic edged his control now, now he understood. He couldn't allow this to escalate. Had to ensure Parker didn't get embroiled in this shit. Oh man this was a bad situation. Very bad.

He slipped the guys ear piece from his unconscious body and tried to decipher what if anything, could be heard. Static. Shit. Crouching down he removed the black jacket from the body and slipped it on, checking the man's pulse as he did so. Not dead. Good. Last thing he needed was them having that to hang over him. Stay down Parker he thought, willing her to hear him where ever she was. Stay down and shut up till this is done. He fought the swell of emotion just thinking of the blonde thief inspired, and clamped it tight. Cold. Calm. Machine. That's what he was when needed, and that's what he would be now. _Scarlet_ could kiss his ass he decided as he crept through the shadowy undergrowth of the forest clinging to the incline.

The second sniper caught him on approach, and they traded blows in the half light, rifle clattered away to the floor impatiently by Eliot's swift hands. The wound on his arm was taking a battering as he defended against punches and split open again. An uppercut to the guys jaw should have took him down but the dude was tough, and not backing down. Eliot found his zone, balanced and quick as he avoided the other guys fists and feet, swooping his head to avoid a sharp kick and using the mistimed attack to step in and elbow the guys thigh, and smash a blow to his solar plexus with the heel of his palm. Fucker felt that. Still gasping as he fell to his knees Eliot cracked him in the head with a swift sharp back handed fist as he walked away, knowing from the impact, the guy was out.

Torso torn and scratched from the spiky twigs and branches choking the space between the tree trunks and shrubs, he could feel his side ache from a blow the bastard landed. His head pounded. Where was Scarlet? And where was Parker? He made sure to render the rifle the guy had trained on them minutes before, inoperable. He _really _disliked guns.

A female cry pierced the whispering forest hush and he abandoned the sniper's comatose body and his search of it and sped in the direction of the noise. Not Parker. It would not be Parker. His brain blanked out as he reached the source, from relief or horror he wasn't sure. So much for Parker not getting involved. She really was feisty his thief.

Scarlet was standing at the top of the track, looking down into the glade, her skin pale and her hands at her red dress. Her even redder red dress. Fuck. He could see the skewer protruding from her shoulder from a few feet away, and as he approached on silent feet, she looked at him glassy eyed.

"She stabbed me!"

He glanced around furtively, wondering where _she_ was. His sexy blonde stabber of people. It made him grin involuntarily and Scarlet winced but got her game face on as she noted the smirk.

"Considering I could deport her to Yemen with a phone call, I would wipe that damn smile off your face Spencer." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, thinking, fucking try it lady.

"So you guys resorting to this shit now? Spying and abduction?"

"Ironic I know. According to the file that's actually what you did for us isn't it?" She clutched her hand to her shoulder and the blood seemed to stop gushing, and he was pretty confidant she wouldn't bleed to death. Not a hundred percent but you know, shit happened in the woods. People fell onto abandoned meat skewers and pierced an artery all the time. Yessir they did.

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he decided she could spin before he got engaged in any smack talk over who was guiltier, him, or the government who had managed him for a while. The black jacket he had borrowed strained over his biceps, too tight.

Parker must be close. He wasn't entirely comfortable with her listening, not sure he wanted her knowing any more about his fucked up past and endless list of enemies. The team were aware of the hits out on his head already. Needn't add these ass holes to the list.

"What's with the Damien crap?"

She shrugged then winced and he smirked.

"A test."

"Oh? And did I pass?" He didn't give a damn but whatever this was he needed to know so he could tell her to get lost and report to her bosses that Eliot Spencer no longer did their dirty work. Hell no. One of the supposed snipers stumbled up the steep path and Eliot winked at him.

"With flying colours actually. I needed you off kilter. I was worried about the woman...Parker isn't it? I thought your skills would be diminished by concern for her in these circumstances but you are still the man whose file I read about five years ago. A heartless killer. You still don't get attached. It'll work."

"Couple'a things lady." Eliot raised his middle index finger at her."One, who the fuck are you?"

She met that with a stony face and he cocked his head, raising a second finger and offering her the two fingered salute.

"Two, Parker can take care of herself just fine. She handled you didn't she? Or have you not noticed the profuse bleeding and skewer currently sticking out of your right shoulder?" He chewed his lip, eyebrows raised as he waited for an answer not immediately forthcoming. The implication that he had just left Parker without a thought or concern really pissed him off. Jesus, she hadn't waited, just organised her own escape, the invisibility trick she could perform always impressive. It was hot as hell too. Being described as a heartless killer wasn't cool either. He found his gut tightening, as he pictured Parker hanging on a tree top somewhere above, listening to the redheads words. Then realised what a terrible mistake his own words had been. Oh man, what a rookie mistake. He wanted to kick himself as Scarlet zeroed in on him with a calculating stare. Nice one Eliot.

"I'm Agent Scarlet," yeah Eliot thought, what a crock,"and you, were a bonus discovery if you want the truth. The reason why-"

"Truth?" He barked an unpleasant chuckle, feeling hemmed in and annoyed."That'd be a first from an _agent. _I'll pass on the whys and settle for goodbyes. Fuck off."

"We'll expect you to answer when we call Spencer." She threw him a cell. He tossed it away.

"I am not your bitch. I'm done with that. So forget you ever found me. That's not a freakin' request either."

"Oh I don't think so. Not now we have leverage. Do the job we need you to do, or I will shop Parker to the highest bidder, what is it, nine countries she's wanted in? My hasn't she been a busy little bee?" She was a stone cold bitch this one. He appraised her, wondering how the hell she had gotten the job of handler.

"How'd a judges daughter get a gig like this darlin'? Not enough excitement at your bridge nights?"

"Hardly your business Spencer." She was getting colour back in her cheeks now, looking less waxy from blood loss. Then she glanced over his shoulder and he knew the second henchman was back on the scene. Test over, there would be no more violence. At least if they played nice. Which wasn't guaranteed. "I'm not a handler Spencer, I don't have the patience for it. What I am is a recruiter. You lone wolf types seem to enjoy acting like mountaineers when you aren't working. Cliché but true. I have no intention of letting the opportunity to bring Eliot Spencer back into the fold pass me by."

"So why not before huh? Why now?" He had met Scarlet a handful of times at events in the area when he was on down time, and figured her a predatory single woman intent on getting him into bed. Not interested he had swatted her off. He should have paid more attention damn it. His background checks on his neighbours had thrown up all sorts of hinky shit, these folks were others with pasts they wanted to forget, and living off the grid in the national park fit the bill. A recruiter in the locale made sense, yet he hadn't seen it coming. And certainly not the red head living off her daddies estate. Fuck it he had messed up. No point dwellin' on it now.

"People change Spencer. I wasn't entirely sure you were still suitable for our requirements and had no cause to push to find out." Man she talked about this shit like it was normal. Like people were chess pieces to be manoeuvred and sacrificed at will. Fucking agency could go jump. He was not being put on a leash again. Not being a pet monster. Never again. "I have a mission in the works and saw tonight as an opportunity I couldn't miss. Eliot Spencer bringing a woman to his bolt hole? Well I couldn't not poke that with a stick now could I?"

He clamped his teeth together, wishing he hadn't bought Parker here. Wishing a million things.

"And now we know." She smiled, and one of her guys had stepped up from behind Eliot and begun cleaning her shoulder. He glanced at Eliot who was wearing his jacket. Eliot willed him to ask for it back so he could bust his head again. Violence clawing inside him for release.

"You know nothing lady, so take your Uncle Sam rhetoric and find another guy to be your puppet. I cut my strings along time ago now." Painfully too. Being back on their radar sucked. He shouldn't have made his little speech about Parker. No freakin' way. Scarlet had rankled him with her pointed comments that he was heartless and like a schmuck he had bit. Since when did he give a shit what they thought? And he swallowed at his own stupidity, knowing damn well it was Parker's little ears somewhere in the forest he had been speaking to. Her opinion of him that mattered so much he had royally screwed it.

"Oh come off it Spencer. Enough. We both know you'll comply. A background check on your girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend." Gritted teeth and a deep rage tore through him. She wasn't. Yet he had still managed to put her in danger because of him.

"Really? What are we Spencer fourteen? You play ball or Parker becomes my agencies number one priority. Do you know how many doors I could open with her as a bargaining chip for the countries she has humiliated? She took their national treasures, I could make my career from her capture alone. "

"But you won't." The agency did not work with other governments in an official capacity. They didn't need thieves on the payroll. They were that by trade themselves. No. They needed the Eliot's of the world for their particular missions.

"Not if you comply. I value the work you could do for us more highly at this time. That can always change of course."

Eliot wondered if his life would ever be his own again. He wondered if he would have signed up back then if he had known half the shit he did now. Then he wondered why he was wasting time thinking about what ifs. He bent down and retrieved the cell, and she smiled. He ignored the nausea in his stomach. The cage around him once more so tight he had to fight to breathe. Fuck him.

"Excellent. Answer when I call." The other goon had collected the destroyed weaponry and now both flanked Scarlet. Killing her would do no good. She had known he was here. Had ran checks on Parker. There was a trail that her death would encourage others to follow now. His fists cramped he held them so tightly. Despite his efforts to stop it, the memory of Parker, naked and wet, riding him in the pool slammed into his chest. Her smile and kisses and uncertainty, her ninja swiftness and propensity to find joy in a fucking piñata all crashed into his heart and brain and he knew he had to do whatever it took to keep her safe. Had to do what was necessary whilst he found a way to scrub her from their database. Which would take time. Parker knew how to run. Hell they all knew how to drop off the edge of the world when required. But could he do that? Force her to leave behind the team and give up the family she had discovered just to let him live his own life from under their thumb?

The answer was sharp and resounding as it screamed through his blood.

"If you run Eliot, we won't chase you. We'll chase her. And since the bitch stabbed me I am not sure what status I may apply to that order. To detain or delete? Such a tricky decision to make." Scarlet threw that parting shot over her shoulder and he stilled, his expression neutral. She vanished into the woods at the lip of the incline with her men. He stood and let the night sounds and scents wash over him. Man, what a weekend.

He didn't turn when he sensed Parker behind him, dropping from god knows where to the forest floor with a gentle thud. He didn't want to see the accusation in her eyes, or the disappointment. Shit, he had made love to her, and it had scored his soul and now she was going to regret it forever and it stung sharper than the cage bars being sprung about him to think that such a perfect memory could be so damn tainted. Selfish selfish bastard to want her to cherish it like he would, despite the consequences.

"Eliot." She stepped up to his back and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't know what to say. Sorry didn't really cut it. And he wasn't sorry for what they had done, so the words would be a lie.

To his eternal shock, her small hands slipped around his waist and she pressed her cheek to his shoulder, her frame wrapping about him from behind, and he froze, thrown through a loop. Expecting anger and resentment and getting hugged instead short circuited his thoughts. She never did what he expected. His thief.

"Parker I-" He closed his eyes and let her hands on his heart ease the knot there, selfishly wanting this to last because it was all over before it began and he hadn't realised how much he had only wanted this to be the beginning till the choice had been snatched from him.

"I'm so sorry Eliot. I'm so sorry." Tears. He heard tears in her voice and felt like a monster. Why was she sorry? This wasn't her fault it was his. All his. For being arrogant enough to want things he had no right to, given his past and its ugliness. He turned and stroked her damp hair, letting her head nestle at his throat and she clung to him tight, ignoring the cuts and bruises beneath his jacket that her body against his pressed into.

"Nothing to be sorry for sweetheart. It's okay. I swear I will get you out of this. I'll find a way to get you-"

"What are you talking about?" She leant back in his arms and looked into his eyes, her own bright and sapphire sharp in the pervading moonlight. "I have to run Eliot. I'll vanish. I'm good at it don't worry. There's a reason none of those countries have me yet you know."

Eliot thought his heart couldn't break more than it had but damn it, it splintered in his chest and he gripped her tighter, rubbing his jaw against her hair. Remembering what it looked like fanned out in the pool as he pounded into her. Fuck him he was an animal. He had never felt less worthy of anything his whole life.

"Parker you can't run. You want to leave the team behind? Nate, Sophie, Hardison?" He wanted to add _me _?, but stopped himself. He had done enough damage. She was so better off without these complications it was untrue. This was over and it hurt to admit more than he was willing to 'fess up to. "If we ran-"

"You can't run. The team need you. Nate needs you. If you disappear Scarlet will use Cory and Maria and anyone else she can to get you back so you need to stick around to stop her. To keep them safe." Her words sparked new fears, but he was confidant that Scarlet would avoid using citizens in her manipulations. Parker had a weight in the world that meant Scarlet could target her legitimately. It was clean and orderly, and the agency liked clean and orderly. But the fact Parker worried about them tugged at him, and regret was poison in his veins. He was back on their radar all right but Boston appeared safe for now. Sterling wouldn't deal with these guys, so his silence whilst not assured, was not an issue. Not since they had so much shit on him for the Fabergé Egg job that had got him so much fucking attention anyhow.

"You want to be alone Parker? You really want to lose the life you've made? No. You don't. So stop talking about it 'cos it ain't happenin'." He swore, as she went quiet in his arms, and sighed, knowing the full implications had hit her and that the anger was bound to erupt any second. He wanted her to be angry at him. Wanted her to beat him with those hands curled at his back because it's what he deserved, not her sympathy or empathy. Things he would never have even thought Parker capable of once, but wasn't he a dick for that assumption?

"I don't want to leave Eliot." She sighed at his throat, her breathe tickling him, and his gut clenched because the urge to kiss her and take her was still there, live in his veins. What an ass hole he was.

She tipped back again to find his eyes, and he knew his desire was raw in them, feeling ashamed at the knowledge. "But I'd rather be alone than the reason you are owned by them. I couldn't live with it."

And Eliot Spencer stared down at his thief and swallowed past the lump in his throat, all out of words once more, as he realised that he was already owned. Completely. Her heart was bigger than anyone knew, and the fact she would sacrifice such things for him, well he couldn't comprehend such loyalty. He wasn't sure what he had done to earn it, or deserve it. And cherished it anyway.

He kissed her, letting his lips move over hers with all the emotion swelling inside, transforming the rage into something sweet and lush and she opened up, kissing him back, as if he weren't all the dark things in the shadows, but the light chasing them away and he knew it was a goodbye. She was soft and firm and he wanted her again with a fierceness that shook him. He'd just have to live with that.

This was all it could be. He held her tight and took his time, teasing her and playing with her, letting her smiles into the kiss and nips on his lips imprint on his memory. Back in Boston, he would not get to do this. This was a goodbye to a road he wouldn't walk down again. She would not want the man he needed to be in order to keep her safe.

And he would. He would be that man in a heartbeat.


	22. Chapter 22

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**I'm not evil I promise ;)  
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They returned to the party by silent mutual consent, hand in hand. Parker retrieved Eliot's clothes and if anyone noticed they were dishevelled and a little damp no one commented. They were having too good a time and probably figured they had snuck away to do exactly what they had done. Parker found that she didn't mind them thinking that at all.

Scarlet was gone. Yet her presence was a ghost at their shoulder, and Parker wished she had aimed lower with the skewer and took her heart out.

Eliot was quiet, and she felt his palm against hers but knew his mind was elsewhere. Somewhere dark. The idea that she could be used to coerce him into becoming what he had left behind with good reason twisted in her stomach. No wonder he kept people at arms length. He should resent her, but his kiss had been sweet and sad, and it confused her. She wanted to call Hardison, but knew instinctively that Eliot would not have it. That would simply open new doors for Scarlet to trace and new people she could use against him. Sure once back in Boston Eliot would use his resources to eliminate whatever information Scarlet had acquired, but till he could, he seemed to have accepted the choice he had made by taking that damn cell.

Parker would not let him deal with it alone. She knew it without pause or question. She did not want his past to poison what had happened in the glade. His regrets over it were palpable. His guilt, bitter on her tongue where he had kissed her so mournfully.

"Dance with me." She wasn't asking when she paused as they crossed the dance floor, and he glanced at her, eyes brooding. She wanted the fire back when he looked at her. Sex with Eliot had been a hell of a lot more than just that and she was not giving it up, now she knew what it could be. She wasn't stupid either. It wasn't because Eliot totally knew what he was doing that made it so perfect. It was the fact it was Eliot full stop. She was pretty sure this was a revelation she may want to explore further at some point, but right now, she wanted to pretend Scarlet didn't exist and hadn't trashed their bubble.

"Parker darlin' I'm not in a dancing frame of mind right now."

"I wasn't askin' you," she whispered and pulled him close, his resistance infuriating at first, before it melted away and he gave in. "I was tellin' you."

He capitulated, letting his arms sit loose at her waist as she held his neck. She refused to let him avoid her gaze, and warmed to see a light in them that had vanished after his confrontation in the glade. He smiled crookedly, and sighed.

"I don't need gentlin' honey. I'm a big boy, I can take it. I don't need your pity."

She raised her brows at that and smiled impishly.

"I wasn't planning on being gentle so that works for me. And I know exactly how big you are thanks, no need to brag. And it's not pity I'm offering."

He actually blushed before laughing, the sound startling, as if he hadn't expected to be able to do it and she grinned when he narrowed his eyes on her.

"Parker are you propositioning me?" He sounded wary and a little amazed.

"Well duh." That damn cell could ring at any time and she had no intention of wasting a moment they had before that happened. And if he thought he was safe in Boston he could forget it.

"After everything that...You understand what I'm gonna have to do Parker? I think it'd be better for you if-"

"We get a move on? Yeah totally." He blinked, and frowned. She was really looking for a more positive response. Was it because he resented her now that he had changed his mind about them having sex again? "Don't you want me now?"

"Jesus Parker." He stared at her, taken aback apparently, though she wasn't sure why. "Are you crazy? Of-course I do. I just-" Eliot was not good at dealing with this she realised, feeling oddly like the one in charge of the situation. He was too caught up in his head and she wanted him caught up in bed instead. She crushed closer to him, and he tipped his head to hers, and she felt his heat and it encouraged her.

"Just shut up and kiss me already. Begging is not good for my self esteem."

He examined her closely, grey blue eyes as clear as diamonds, and she pouted. He seemed to be thinking way too hard when she wanted him to be acting on her words not analysing them.

"This can't continue in Boston. You know that right? Apart from everything else, the team and H, I think it's been emphatically proven why I don't do relationships."

"Well we aren't back in Boston yet and I wasn't asking you to marry me. I just want to sleep with you again. Wasn't I clear? Should I have done the finger thing? I'm really never sure-" she did the air quotes thing and he groaned and laughed and for a moment Scarlet didn't exist at all.

"No, you were pretty clear darlin'. I'm just being an obtuse s.o.b. You didn't need the quotes thing, you said it fine."

"And yet you still aren't kissing me. Huh." She cocked her head, and stared at him with a mock frown and for a minute she really thought he was going to refuse but then he closed his eyes quick and swooped, claiming her mouth with a force that made her wobble in her heeled boots. Much better.

Oh man when he kissed her he didn't hold back, and the dance floor vanished as he held her tight and caused her body to spark up with need all over again. At least this kiss was laced with passion not apology. She caught his face in her hands and showed her appreciation at the switch.

The song playing by the band made her smile, When You Kiss Me Like That seemed utterly appropriate and when he lifted his head and she saw the want in his eyes her stomach tipped and rolled. She was still aching, and hungry for him. Once had not been enough. His kiss was addictive and she needed to feel the rush of him inside her again. And probably again after that.

"Promise me you won't run Parker." He growled it at her mouth, and she clung to him tighter.

"I'm not thinking of running right now." She honestly wasn't sure if she could promise that. She would hate leaving the team but if the bitch turned Eliot into something he hated...she couldn't live with the repercussions of that. Could she?

"Parker if you run it won't just be them hunting you down. It'll be me. You understand? I will not let you go and give your life up because of this."

Damn he was hot when he was commanding. She felt heat unfold in her loins and curled closer against his body. She wanted him so badly her hands shook at his jaw. She let her forehead rest on his and smiled, as he had them sway in time to the song.

"Well maybe you should be giving me a reason to stick around then." He raised an eyebrow at that, a slow smile curving his mouth and a secret glow in his eyes. The clouds were slowly blowing away from his brow and she wanted them to stay gone.

"And how would I do that Parker?" Finally, she heard the gruff tease she yearned to hear again and it lit the fire within deliciously.

"Seriously, you have no idea's? Hmm. That's really disappointing-" he cut off her teasing comment with a kiss that exploded through her like hot lava, his tongue fierce and lips hard on hers. His hand raked through her hair to hold her head to his mouth and bubbles of electricity began to pop in her blood in anticipation of more. Breathing hard he raised his head, a quick glance at the rest of the room before settling on her face, eyes like quicksilver under the lights.

"Let's get out of here and I'll try my best to be persuasive." His words were throaty and Parker was certain the word persuasive had never been infused with such heat or promise in the history of time. She was melting already.

She nodded, and he pulled her hand through the throng, and they made their goodbyes to the happy couple and Louise who winked at Parker with a zeal she found made her blush. Cory tossed Eliot his keys, and Eliot promised to bring the car back in the morning since their lift had disappeared. Cory was a little worse for wear anyhow and Eliot made Louise promise to monitor them all back to the rentals. Cory and Maria had their own private villa near the rest and it was only a short distance away. She tutted and shooed Eliot's concern away, and hearing him being called Eric again made Parker smile. She snatched his rewritten name card from the table as they passed by, not sure why but wanting it anyway.

She made him pose for a picture with her, and had Louise take it with her cell. He grimaced but smiled on cue and she kissed his cheek as the cell clicked. He coughed and looked away, and Louise handed her the cell with a brief arm about her shoulder. It was warm and comforting, and Parker had the weird feeling that everything would be okay.

The drive back to Eliot's was fast and he left one hand on her thigh as he steered, their eyes meeting again and again as the forest sped by, until Parker was squirming in her seat with nerves and anticipation.

"Is your house safe?" Parker didn't want to ask but she wasn't stupid. Eliot looked at her, and she felt scalded.

"They don't give a shit what I do now, as long as I do what they want when required. Besides we'll soon know. Shocking, but I do have security Parker." He made a face at her, but it was a trust me face, and she did.

"I wish I'd aimed better." She didn't elaborate, but Eliot grinned and squeezed her leg, and she smiled at him. Normally she got the you're a whack job look when she stabbed people. Turns out you just had to stab the right ones and it made perfect sense.

In the house, he grabbed a soda from the fridge for her and vanished to go check his systems. She was intrigued and having time to peruse now, saw the alarm system and cameras discreetly located at key points in each room. He was always so in control, even of his violent leanings. Had to be she supposed. Having no control over what he may be asked to do would be the worst kind of torture. Parker felt responsible. She wanted to fix it, but couldn't. When he walked back into the room, handsome and quiet and strong, she realised she felt protective of him. He had taken off his shirt and bandaged up the reopened wound on his arm. Her breath dragged in her lungs. Deeply protective.

"Eliot everything'll be okay you know." She looked at him and hoped he believed her. Walking up to him, standing in the lounge she reached up and kissed him, and it felt easy and natural and she couldn't understand why this hadn't occurred to her before now.

"Parker darlin', I'm fairly certain that's my line. Kinda in the job description." His voice was low and rough and she smiled, as he cupped her cheek with his palm. She rubbed into it. Such clever hands he had. Deadly and gentle by turn. Just like him.

"So who says it to you?" He cocked his head quizzically. She tried again, suddenly very bothered about the answer. "You make sure we're all okay. You makes sure you are?"

"Parker I'm supposed to be persuading you right now remember? Shut up darlin'." He ended on a raw whisper and caught her up in a bone dissolving kiss, picking her up easily even as his mouth devoured hers, and she looped her arms about his shoulders, as he carried her upstairs.

Clothes abandoned in a tangle of arms and hands as they helped each-other from them, mouths fastened tight, parting only when completely necessary, Parker was burning up as he stroked her skin and bit her lip tenderly, suckling her lower lip even as he slid his hands over her ass and pulled her to his hard on that strained at her thigh. The skin of his cock felt velvet soft against her hip as he moved and Parker felt her womb contract. With one hand at her nape, he kissed her deeply whilst sliding toward her mound, and pleasure erupted in delicate waves from her lower back, spinning out in ever widening circles, and she matched him kiss for kiss, breathing him in and tangling her hands in his hair, which was loose after she snagged off his band.

When he slid a finger inside she gasped and rolled at him, so sensitive to his touch she could cry, which seemed extreme but then so were the feelings rushing up from her centre to turn her to a quivering mess.

"Eliot, please," Parker cried out as he inserted a second finger and she damn near lost mind. This. This was what she had never quite understood, because only experiencing it would do. She was throbbing and her ears buzzed as he left her mouth to kiss her throat and neck, wild and intimate and so Eliot, even when he growled at her as her hands slipped to his waist and she reached for his erection. He was hot and hard in her palm and he swore as she stroked him, his head burying into her neck as he clutched her nape tighter, not painfully, overwhelmingly, his hair mingling with hers as he pumped his fingers into her and she thumbed the head of his shaft, gripping him firmer and faster until he gasped.

"Honey stop, stop."

"What's wrong? Am I doing it wrong?" Panic filled her, she wasn't all that practised after all, she didn't want to mess up, and he shook his head laughing into her hair.

"Parker stop with the crazy. You did it too right. You're perfect. Fuckin' perfect." He kissed her hard and she met his tongue with hers, loving his taste and feel and the sound of his chest hair scraping at her breasts and his panting in her mouth between kisses. He created a maelstrom of sensations that swept her beyond herself and somewhere else, even as she was utterly aware of her body and every caress. The dual feelings, physical and non physical had her keening for closer contact, and she raked her nails along his inner forearms, tracing patterns and then trailing her short nails along his forearms, the hair under her fingers masculine and real and intimate in a way that shocked her.

"Eliot." She gasped it as he stroked her clit with his thumb, and she felt a climax building, intensely close and miles away all at once. Oh god she was dying from pleasure and he was intent on killing her dead. They hadn't even gotten in bed yet.

"Yeah?" He spoke into her throat as he licked and bit and kissed her skin making her squirm at his hand. Jesus.

"I won't run." He paused, and held her face with his free hand to meet her eyes. His lips were wet and eyes glassy. So much sensation filled her it seemed to invade her heart and stretch it wide.

"Pinky swear?" He grinned, so wide and bright she just nodded, since her throat was full of her expanding heart and she couldn't find her voice till it calmed down.

He kissed her breasts as she felt herself swell and tighten about his fingers and his thumb sent electricity straight from its pad into her sex, and she clutched his shoulders and tugged his head up by his hair which he really liked if the kiss she received when she captured his mouth were a reliable gauge. She moaned into his mouth as she came, jerking hard and filled with a rush both potent and ethereal. Her head was cotton wool and limbs lead and heart pounding. He kissed her through it, and twisted her around to face the bed, letting her lips go in favour of pressing kisses to her shoulders, and gentle kisses to her bruised back. Parker tipped her head forward and her hair fell to the duvet cover as he had her grip the mattress and spread her legs for him. Oh God just doing it had her shaking, her legs a little shot from her orgasm.

"I got you darlin' s'okay." He slid his hands around her to hold her breasts and she arched into his caressing palms, her nipples highly sensitive and the tendrils of fire shot to her core, where the orgasm radiated still. Man she was a hot mess. And it was amazing.

She heard a wrapper tear and felt Eliot release one breast to attend to his erection which smacked her backside, making her push back and raise her ass, more than ready for him.

He held one breast and teased the nipple as he held his cock at her wet aching core, and she slipped her fingers to her curls to ease him in. He swore as he entered and she felt her muscles tighten about him, and almost climaxed again, it was so raw and electrified. Oh man he moved just a little deeper, his own breathing coming in controlled bursts and she couldn't wait, just reared back and took him in as deep as she could push.

"Parker fuck, I can't, I gotta have a minute."

Parker was full of Eliot and when he stepped her closer and encouraged her to put her knees on the bed she did so, even as he remained standing,big and hard and locked inside her. Being on her knees gave her much better strength and she ground at his groin in circles as he gripped her hips tight. Her hands clutched the duvet.

"That wasn't a minute Parker." He teased warmly even now, and she pulled forward, almost completely from his cock, before plunging back on him again. Oh God it was good. He hit so deep and she was still tingling from her first climax as she felt another on the horizon. Sweat flowered on her skin and her breasts felt heavy and full as they swung with each thrust.

"I don't care. We'll do it your way next time." She looked over her shoulder up at him, standing behind her, hands on her hips, hair wild and eyes half closed. Gorgeous. He was gorgeous and buried inside her and she could live like this. Totally. Thrown in a few heists and repelling on the weekend and she was set.

"No way lady, we do it my way now." He bent down and bit the soft shallow curve of her neck and she whimpered, loving it as tremors rippled in her skin.

"Are you always this bossy in bed?" She grinned, and he chuckled as he held her hips tighter, rolling his cock inside her in a way that made her head spin.

"Are you?" His question made her laugh in denial and then he was thrusting and all thought stopped as he managed to hit her deeper and sweeter than ever before. Oh God she thought she may faint as sweat trickled down her spine and between her breasts and her ears popped. It was a free fall through pleasure and she bucked at him, just as wild as he, and he called her name as he slipped a hand from her hip to her soaked curls and she came with a shudder after a few strokes of his thumb. He shattered moments later, at the apex of one last deep surge and Parker decided right then and there that he was hers. She couldn't think straight or make sense of it, but he was hers and she was keeping him. Just like this.

A few hours later, she lay with her head on his chest as he stroked her tender back with soft tickling patterns, and she pressed her hand on his heart, its steady pumping mesmerising beneath her palm.

"Eliot?" She whispered, and he bent his head to kiss her hair.

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared things will be different in Boston." It was worrying her a lot.

"What d'you mean? We'll be fine, back to how we always are. It won't change Parker. I won't let it."

"That's what I'm scared about." He was so intent on this new discovery between them being over it hurt her stomach, and she dreaded getting back to Boston. How could she possibly know how good things could be with Eliot physically and not get to do it again? It was unthinkable.

"I don't get it. I thought-"

"I want to be the one you sleep with." She propped her chin on her hand and sought his eyes in the dim light of the bedroom. "If you did this with another woman I may stab her. And you. I don't think-no I _know_, I wouldn't like it."

"Parker we discussed this. We can't sleep together when we get home, it's too complicated and I told you, I don't do relationships I just-"

"It's not a relationship. It's us, but with sex as a bonus."

"Right. _Not_ a relationship. You just want to sleep with me again." He sounded worn out and Parker wondered at his tone. His voice was resigned and self mocking. She couldn't understand why. His fingers trailed languid shapes across her back and she wondered if it was amazing for her and not for him? He had put on a convincing job of being as into it as she was, told her she was perfect. She couldn't see the problem.

"Do you want to sleep with someone else?" The idea although disturbing was very probable she suddenly realised, knowing Eliot's penchant for casual encounters, he may well have a lover already. Sickening as the notion was.

"No. No! Parker I don't want another woman. That's not it-"

"Good, that's settled. This is our thing. Not for sharing. Night Eliot." She pressed a kiss to his mouth then closed her eyes, ignoring his attempt to continue the conversation. His frustrated sigh shook his entire chest, and she knew he would resist, though she wasn't sure why and it stung her eyes and throat and heart.

She went to sleep, confidant she would change his mind.

It was along drive back to Boston after all.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Am winding this down..just a couple of chapters or so I think, I'm not that sure... :) **

**Gotta end sometime right? **

**Reviews welcome and adored as always, and thanks a million to those who are reading and have faved or put it on alert, you utterly rock. :D**

**Longest thing I have written and shared to date and it just makes me want to write more. Very inspiring bunch you are :)**

Morning arrived and with it, a kamikaze sense of acceptance in Eliot. Waking with Parker wrapped about him, her legs clinging to his, her hand on his chest, he smiled first and panicked second. He decided that would be the blueprint for the entire situation. She was direct and fearless about their new status as sexual partners, and though she still seemed stuck on the fact that it somehow made no difference to their relationship, a reasoning he found charmingly naive if a little hurtful, he couldn't deny his own feelings on the issue. He wanted her. He wanted her more then he could have envisaged wanting another human being, and the desire had not diminished after making love, it had only increased. A rare event that had happened to him only once before. and look how that had turned out. Now here he was again, albeit with an entirely different kind of woman, and his life was being taken from his hands, used by the government he had lost so much for already, as if he were nothing but a human hammer. A machine to be deployed at will.

"Shhhh." Parker was grumpy as she shushed him and he glanced at her face, eyes closed, hair swept back, and raised an eyebrow. He hadn't said a word. Had he?

"You are thinking way too loud Eliot," she yawned and stretched beside him. Rubbing up on him like a cat. A sleek sexy cat.

"Seriously? Guess I'll take me and my noisy ass to the shower." Eliot slipped from the bed and felt her half opened eyes on his naked ass as he crossed the room to grab a fresh towel from the hamper. "Anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare Parker?"

"Yeah. But I could show them you naked and they'd forgive me." He heard her grin and damn if her compliment didn't make him blush. Fuck it. What was the point in fighting it anyhow? He knew that a call would come, that he would vanish for a few days in Boston and when he returned she would look at him with wary eyes and distrust, not sure of the man he was any more. He had tried to tell Aimee once that there were lines he didn't cross, that she could trust him. Looking back, he was never sure if it was his vanishing acts that had torn them apart or her suspicions about what kind of man he was as a result. Sometimes bad situations needed an Eliot Spencer. He had gotten out because he had stopped believing in those giving him orders, but even now, he knew that the work was necessary. He just didn't want to do it. He had found a certain peace of mind working with the team and doing good for ordinary folks. The ability to choose what he did and who for was a gift that had been tested with Nate on occasion, but he knew Nate was a good guy. Despite his issues. The agency were not always so clear cut in motivation. Was it wrong to want to let this thing with Parker run till it fell apart like he knew it would? He wasn't certain he could handle Parker losing faith in him. But that was inevitable. Black Ops did not employ single operatives without reason.

In the shower, he scrubbed himself clean, and told himself he was a selfish bastard, that ending it before it got any deeper was the right course of action. Yet he was honest enough to admit that he was already in deep. Parker thought it was just sex. Great enough sex that she wasn't willing to share, as was her nature, sure, but that was it. So why was he over thinking it? Because the repercussions after the call, would just be Parker not wanting to have sex with him most likely. Which would suck but that wasn't what hung him up was it? No it was the idea that she would look at him differently that killed him. But it was going to happen regardless so why not take what he could whilst it was offered?

"Room for one more?" Parker slipped into the shower with him, and he shut out his churning thoughts. He grinned at her and grabbed some shampoo, spinning her about and once wet, soaping up her hair. She reached down and ran her nails down his thick wet thighs.

"Would you care if I said no?" Parker shrugged her naked shoulders.

"Why would you say no?" Huh. There really was no messing with Parker logic at times.

She tipped her head back and rinsed out her hair and it was crowded, but Eliot really couldn't bring himself to care when she pressed her naked wet body up on his and smiled through the running water sexy as hell.

"Good morning Eliot." Her hand slipped to his already hardening cock and he knew without doubt he'd be taking what he could whilst it was offered. He was an ass hole, but he wasn't stupid. She snaked the other around his back and drew patterns on his skin up and down and over his ass as the spray hit and tickled. His body lurched within itself at her touch.

"Good morning Parker." He kissed her under the hot spray, and decided there weren't many better ways to start the day. And finally being honest if only with himself, not getting to do this once the axe fell would way more than suck. He just had to keep it light. Casual. Yeah, that'd work.

They packed up, and Eliot drove Cory's car with Parker following in the truck up to the rentals.

In the cold sunshine of morning, the light white and crisp on the trees, the colours were sharp and greens apple bright and reds conker dark. Eliot hated Scarlet for tainting this place for him. He had stripped the cell of its GPS and spent a while scanning his truck for a transmitter just in case and found two. Parker mixed the chips in with bird feed and hung them in a feeder in a tree near his house. He would deal with Scarlet, he was confidant of that. How long it took, well he wasn't so sure. Recruiters were notoriously hard to pin as associates of the agency, but she had mentioned a specific mission, which meant she worked as a match maker too. That should make it slightly easier to dig up dirt on the bitch. Because there would be dirt, he knew that. Her methods were fucked and the area she worked in already littered with those just wanting to bury their past and live a quiet life. Eliot would bet money he was not the first she approached with threats against the people in their life. And that was unacceptable. Parker may be a criminal, but she was his criminal and not a bargaining chip. The sooner all trace of her was deleted from the agency database the better. She was wanted by enough countries already. That knowledge shouldn't have made him proud but in a twisted way it did. Call it professional admiration he figured. She was the best, no question.

They had breakfast with Louise, since the newly-weds and most others were yet to surface, and Parker sat next to him on the patio as she downed bacon and eggs, laughing at Louise's teasing and put her hand on his knee under the table. He let her. Dressed in her black tee, jeans and boots, she looked chic and sunny with a ponytail high on her head and bangs hanging over her shades. _His_ shades, wait when had she taken-

"So will you be back for Christmas honey? Sightings of you are getting rarer in Fayette County than the damn Sasquatch up in these mountains." Louise looked at him, and he wished he didn't think so highly of her. She was a good woman. She was comforting and he'd miss spending time at her place when he visited. The local sheriff thought highly of her too the way he had been dancing with her last night. Eliot had been distracted but he still saw what he needed to. He rolled up the sleeves on his blue check shirt but Parker spoke before he could reply.

"Sasquatch? E-Eric is that real?" Parker was staring into the hills with a fascinated awe, her hand clinging to his thigh and he grinned shaking his head at Lou.

"Big-foot? Sure why not." A hunter's gleam hit her eye and he turned to Louise who was watching with ill concealed interest. "Truth be told I ain't sure when I'll be back Lou. Work you know?"

"The trust? Oh I know there's a lot of travel involved but you gotta recharge sometimes Eric. All work no play makes Eric a dull boy, am I right Parker?"

"Oh Eric is not dull. Trust me. He plays as hard as he works. Harder in fact. What happens at Christmas here?" His cheeks heated at her suggestive comment recalling the shower but neither women seemed to notice. Parker's curiosity surprised him, though not that it would be in conjunction with the holiday. Parker's hand on his knee squeezed a little and he swallowed some OJ and tried not to imagine Parker in his house here, wrapped up in a blanket before the open fire, toasting the damn marshmallows she insisted on carrying any time an open flame was a remote possibility. He was surprised she still had all her damn teeth the amount of sweet crap she ingested.

"Oh we have a festival, and a grotto and put on a trail in the forest for kids to find Santa. It's beautiful it really is."

"We'll come." Eliot almost choked on his OJ at Parker's statement. That was like months away. If it had been anyone else, he'd have figured it was polite small talk. But not Parker. She said as she meant for the most part. "And Eric'll be Santa, he loves it. Don't you Eric?"

He drilled her with a stare and she looked back innocently. What?

"Don't you think that's a commitment we can't really make right now Parker? What with work an' all?"

"No." She frowned, wolfing down another slice of toast. "Christmas here would be awesome."

Eliot wondered if Parker actually knew what a relationship or more specifically, _not_ a relationship meant. Or if she just really liked the idea of the grotto in the forest. Who the hell could tell? Did she not get that it would be way too risky to return? Did she not know that plans were the opposite of casual? Santa grotto temptation notwithstanding, she was crossing a line here.

"You make sure an' bring him Parker. I'll hold off on signing him up for the red suit job just yet though. You can come eat at my real house next visit. " Louise watched him with those kind and worldly eyes and Eliot coughed, discomforted. Louise seemed to have worked out the route to Parker's heart was her stomach already as she nodded that the blond imp could help herself to leftovers.

"We gotta hit the road to get back before morning so, you'll have to convey my goodbyes to the newly-weds Lou." He stood and Parker followed, draining her juice and wrapping up what she could in a napkin. She had hollow legs his thief.

"It was nice meeting you Louise. See you at Christmas." Parker sounded so sure, Eliot bit back a snapped retort. What the hell was wrong with her? They could be in jail, dead or god knows where in a few months. It had been a touch and go thing getting to this wedding, what with all of Nate's work OCD lately. And the Scarlet issue made this place about as inviting as a Columbian crack house

Louise hugged them both, and waved them goodbye as he peeled from the Resort entrance.

Parker broke the silence after forty minutes on the road. Eliot had managed to keep it shut, despite her niggling at him for a response. She messed with his radio. She put her feet on his dash. She pretended to spill a bag of chips into the foot well, hell she even opened the door as if to drop out again. Still he refused to acknowledge her. He had no clue where to begin and felt pissed off but without being entirely sure on the why, or where talking may end up, silence seemed the safest option. Parker wasn't so keen on the idea.

"Eliot you don't have to be Santa if you don't want to. I really didn't think you'd be such a baby about it." She sighed theatrically and he was answering before he could shut his damn mouth.

"Parker for a woman intent on keeping this sex only, you sure are free with making promises for both of us you have no way of knowing we can keep." Eliot spoke without thinking and his tone was far too probing for his liking. He was aiming for a telling off and ended up fishing. How ironic.

"_Oh_. Do you have plans for Christmas?" She sounded slightly stricken and deeply curious.

"Hell Parker I haven't got plans for tomorrow you know that. That's not exactly what I was-"

"Well then why can't we come back?" Cutting him off she sounded puzzled.

"Because-because that's a long way off and you have no idea where we'll be, and it's no longer a secure safe house since Scarlet-" She rolled her eyes at him, he knew it for fact despite the shades and interrupted again.

"We'll have dealt with her by then, jeez." The vote of confidence was as touching as it was alarming. We? This just sex non relationship was becoming the realest freakin' thing he'd had since...crap. He wondered how casual had gotten so bulldozed when he wasn't looking.

"Anything could happen before then Parker. You understand what I'm gettin' at here?" He tried gentle and she actually digested his words. Then spun him away again as she nodded in understanding, mouth pursed in serious reflection.

"Got it." So solemn. "Eliot Spencer if we aren't in jail or dead can we come back?" She clasped her hands in a pleading fashion and gave him the eyes she did when she wanted pancakes over the rim of her glasses. He tried not to smile at the way she echoed his earlier thoughts. Blunt as ever Parker.

"Parker honey, this thing ain't likely to last. You know that right?" Light. Casual. His new mantra.

"Ah, so you do want us to sleep together in Boston. I figured." Airily she put her elbow on the window and let the morning sunshine light her upturned face through the window.

"What? How d'you get there from that?" The breeze caught her ponytail and his own loose hair billowed slightly at his jaw as he turned to her, feeling like this was getting away from him way too fast.

"You called us a thing. It's a thing. We're a thing." She tapped out a celebratory drum roll on the dash. "Eliot & Parker." She spread her hands high as if highlighting the word in lights."_Thing_. Has a certain ring to it doesn't it?"

"Anyone ever tell you you're a verbal ninja?"

"No. But I like it. That's mug worthy. So we can come back at Christmas then?"

"You think we'll still be a thing at Christmas?" Eliot Spencer, he thought grimly, smooth as fuck. Aged fourteen. Casual. Light. His mantra was failing damn it.

"Well I'm gonna want to sleep with you for a lot longer than that so I think we're good." Her tone was serious and considerate and his pants tightened. Jesus Parker just get right to the punch line why don't you.

"Right." Well. Eliot wasn't really sure whether to be flattered or terrified.

"Wait, I guess I should...do you think you'll still want to sleep with me?" She sidled him a glance in a very sneaky Parker fashion, over the mirrored lenses and he couldn't help note the flash of anxiety in her blue eyes. So bold and bewildered. She could never bore him he knew that for a fact.

"Oh I think we'll be okay on that score darlin'." Like he would ever not want her? That was hardly the point though was it? Somehow they had gotten sidetracked off a topic he couldn't really recall having a point in the first place and somewhere along the line, the argument against them being any kind of anything had crumbled beneath her conversational wizardry.

"So it's settled. We'll be back for Christmas. Good." She smiled into the sun pushing her glasses back up and he re-gripped the steering wheel, very aware of a seismic shift between them. How could he tell her that she wouldn't want him soon enough without coming off as a jerk? Like he was palming her off, when in reality he wanted to avoid the train wreck bound to arise after the thrill had worn off for her and distrust replaced the rapport that existed so effortlessly now? Fuck. There was no good exit from this. Not a one.

"You are a hell of a lot more dangerous than folks give you credit for darlin'."

"Aww Eliot that's sweet of you to notice." She raised her brows and made a face like he had called her beautiful. Oh man. He grit his teeth and put his foot down and elbow hanging off the window. He really could love this crazy blonde.. And what a complete disaster that would be.

The radio played an eclectic mix of songs designed it seemed to make him fidget uncomfortably as they sang his feelings all over the freakin' place, and Parker hummed along whenever he felt most exposed because she was Parker and possibly the devil intent on ruining him, and the morning sun warmed up, and they both fell quiet awhile.

Sarah Jane from Weston requested a song for her sister who was having a hard time at school and was dreading going back and Parker turned up the volume. He glanced at her, but since pretty much all his road trip rules were screwed what the hell could he say? Besides she was glowing as the music started, and Jimmy Eat World burst into his truck interior with The Middle and Parker played air guitar as it began.

And sang along with every word.

Rocking out with her-_his_ aviator shades and her all in black Goth thief vibe smacking the side of the passenger door like she was all alone and free and young and hopeful. The butterflies shone in her ears and at her throat and his lungs lost function for a moment and he was pulling over into a dirt road before he could stop his hands turning the wheel and she was so into her anthem she didn't notice him put the truck in park.

He watched her belt out the final chorus, switching to air drum sticks against his dash and he realised he was a complete dick for even attempting to find an exit from this, however good his intentions. He should be working on the opposite. The song was over and he undid his seat belt.

"Hey Eliot?" Parker was looking about now, baffled.

"Hmmm?" He was undoing her seat belt and pulling her into his lap and she was willing if confused as he kissed her breathless. Hard and joyful and greedy, need itching in his skin and snapping in his veins. She tasted like juice and orange tic tacs. Gasping for air finally, she pulled back, straddling his thighs and pushed the glasses back onto her forehead.

"What was that for?" Her blue eyes were almost black and man if that didn't turn him on even more.

"You woo'd." He stared at her, wondering how she could be so unaware of her effortless ability to get him, get right to him without even trying."You freakin' _woo'd_. How's a man not supposed to kiss you after that Parker?"

She stared at him, a secret smile on her face and her cheeks pink as she leant forward to whisper in his ear, tickling his hair with her lips.

"Woo?" Bless her heart she was a flirting ninja too.

He grinned and kissed her again, and she sighed into it and parted her lips to tease his tongue with hers, and Eliot figured it was a good thing they'd made an early start because this was going to take awhile. But his heart was lighter than before and he couldn't even begin to give a damn as the words she had sung so earnestly rang in his head.

_Everything, everything will be just fine, everything, everything will be all right, all right._

If his broken thief could think it, couldn't he?


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Notes: Have faith in me all right? :D The end is nigh, and I'm really gonna miss this which is weird lol. Gotta line up my ducks and all that first though...**

**Thanks to all the readers and reviewers for making this fic such awesome fun to write. I like hearing what you all have to say, and am beyond flattered that you take the time, clicking review after reading really does make a writers day as I know a lot of you who write too know already...and those who don't write, trust me, you make us really happy by doing it. :)**

**Your words really encourage me to write more. **

**And Brown Eyes Parker-I hope you are okay and feelin' better! (Guest TS appearance is for you;)).**

Parker insisted they stop at Bruceton Mills off the 68. Eliot raised an eyebrow but pulled up in front of The Mill Place restaurant, and hardly bat an eye as she got out, and waited.

"I refuse to believe you're hungry again Parker." He got out and locked the truck, and tucked his loose hair behind his ears. She liked it down. She also liked that they had used the same shampoo and that her hair smelled like coconuts too now, though it seemed an odd thing to make her happy so she didn't mention it, having a feeling Eliot would give her _that_ look again. The one that made her wish she was a little more normal sometimes.

"Well there's an ice cream store. Ice cream doesn't count as food. Everyone knows that." His head shake and smile indicated that maybe it wasn't the widely held belief she considered it to be, but she shrugged. "I want to get a picture of us fishing. You know, in case anyone asks."

"You wanna actually go fishin'?" He squinted into the sun at her, head cocked, hands in his jeans pockets and her heart lurched a little.

"No, I want it to look like we did." Entirely different. She span about and he followed her to the ice cream store, refusing a cone for himself and paying for her chocolate double scoop.

They ambled down to the dam, where a few old timers had set up for the day, and the whole place was peaceful and the sound of a waterfall on the dam a ways up stream made Parker smile.

"You wanna be the distraction while I get a picture?" She licked her cone and Eliot's eyes darkened as he watched her. She offered him some, and he licked the chocolate scoop with a shrug and Parker wondered if she would even have offered before...well before. Sharing candy was one thing. This seemed, intimate. Like sex but not. She thought about Hardison, her chest a bit tight, and realised she had never shared food like that with him. A bag of sweets or popcorn, yeah. Not half her sandwich or a lick of her ice cream though. Hmm.

"Parker, much as I like your sneaky ass antics honey, why don't we just ask if you can have a picture?" Eliot made the suggestion as he stared out into the water, and Parker creased her brow. It hadn't occurred to her she could just ask.

"Would they say yes?" The fisher men looked old school, proper gear and she wasn't sure how to approach them without a grift in mind.

"Don't know till you ask darlin'." Eliot wandered down to one of the guys and spoke to him, Parker watching curiously. Eliot glanced over to her and she joined them, oddly nervous.

"Parker meet Billy. Billy'll let you take some pictures." Huh. That was easy. Billy shook her hand and took off his fishing hat and plonked it on her head.

"Gotta look the part there flower." He was about sixty five and weathered but easy going and she accepted the hat with a grin. She like outfits. "Here, let's git'ya lookin' like you mean it." He took off his green waistcoat replete with hooks and badges and she slipped it on, with a thanks.

"Hey Eliot take my picture." She tossed him her cell and he caught it easily, and he and Billy watched as she sat in the green cloth chair on the bank and checked out his lines, finishing off her cone.

Eliot took a few snaps and she grinned, the sun beating down, the water calm and her hat awesomely angled. When he got a bite, she reeled it in, and Billy laughed saying he hadn't had a sniff all morning, maybe she should stick around and be his fish whisperer. Eliot patted the guy on the back as they left, Parker handing back the hat and waistcoat with a sigh.

"Thanks Billy."

"Hope your project does well. My Susie's doing a night class on the interwhatchamacallit. Hard work pays off kid, stick at it now." Parker had no idea what he was talking about so just nodded and followed Eliot up to a picnic area just above the waterfall along the dam.

Sitting on a picnic bench, she stretched her legs out and put her elbows on the table behind her, letting the sun hit her face.

"Eliot?"

"Yeah?" He was sat beside her, stretched out the same, and a sense of peaceful communion fell over them beneath the trees in the sunlight.

"Should we tell the others that we're having sex now?"

A strangled cough followed by silence made her glance at him. He was staring at the waterfall, a reflective expression on his face.

"Eliot?"

"I'm thinkin' Parker. Gimme a minute."

What was so complicated about it? Parker fidgeted on the bench, not liking his hesitation. She scuffed her boots on the ground. For a weird second her stomach felt empty and her skin cold. Panic was fluttering up her throat. She shook it away.

"Never mind. It really doesn't matter."

"Oh, it _really _doesn't matter? Why bring it up then?" Oh frick he was grumpy again. Parker blew her fringe off her forehead and put her shades back on.

"It was a general enquiry. A musing. Yeah, a musing." She liked that word. Sophie used it a lot when she mentioned ideas that got nixed. She would wave her hand in that way that made her being royalty a very real probability and be all airy and English about it. "Never mind never mind, just musing out loud, continue."

"A _musing_? Right." Eliot replicated her boot scuffing with his own. "How d'you think Hardison will feel about it?"

"Hardison? I don't know." She frowned. Since her talk with the hacker about being friends she sort of hadn't considered him whilst dealing with Eliot. The realisation pinched her with guilt. "He'll be okay with it. I think."

"Sure Parker. You break up with the guy and two days later declare you're sleeping with me? Nope, can't see him having any problem with that at all." Eliot's sarcasm was biting and he was frustrated and mad too. Parker shrank in on herself as she listened. "And Sophie? Yeah she'll approve, no worries, right after binning the freakin' scrapbook she's been keeping for you and H's wedding."

"Sophie kept a scrapbook?" Parker was alarmed by that imagery.

"What? No, it's a metaphorical scrapbook Parker." The idea was still disturbing. As was the weariness in his tone when talking about the team's feelings. Parker scrunched her face up to the sky. Eliot really didn't expect the team to take it well, and she couldn't figure why. Why would they disapprove? And honestly who cared?

"I might of mentioned something to Hardison already." She swallowed, waiting for the yelling. Eliot was silent. She breathed out, not sure why she was telling him. She just didn't want it to be all about everyone else's opinion. This was their thing right?

"I'm gonna need you to expand on that darlin'." His voice was cautious and deep, and she winced. But he'd seen her naked. And after the shower, and watching the crown of his head at her abdomen as he did wickedly wonderful things to her with his tongue, it seemed ridiculous to be so nervous about simple words. He was Eliot.

"Well, it may have come up that I...am attracted to you." Wow, that had been hard. Stupid, but it was.

"May have come up?" Eliot sounded incredulous. "Parker was this during your chat about just bein' friends?"

"Might have been. I can't exactly recall right now." Man she was a crappy liar. Her heart was thudding and anxiety was knocking at her head, the steel box full of her Eliot feelings rattling and shuddering about like a wild thing.

"Parker why did you and Hardison break up?" He was quiet, and spoke like each word needed careful handling. Now he wanted to know? Huh. Parker felt fire and ice flood her in quick succession.

"Does it matter?" She sounded meek and worried to her own ears, and then she straightened. She didn't have to justify herself or the reasons that had gotten her here. Like it mattered anyway? You can't un-ring a freakin' bell.

"I think it matters a lot Parker." Pained. That's how he sounded. He was leaning forward now, head down, hands clasped and elbows braced on his knees.

"We both realised we were better off as friends that's all. No biggie." Parker wished she hadn't said anything. What had made her start this conversation anyway? Since she knew _exactly_ why she had asked she decided not to dwell too much. Eliot did not do relationships. This was just sex. Till she convinced him otherwise without him noticing. Because he was hers and she was keeping him, and even she knew that just sex didn't cover all that. The kids video in New York and Louise's talk at the wedding...Parker finally felt like she was getting a message, and one she was ready to hear. People mattered and life could be short. You couldn't plan for bad shit happening, you just had to be sure and not waste the good stuff when that landed on you, because regrets were a sorry thing to have when you were dead. Personal relationships hadn't ever registered as a source of regret before the team had formed. A source of pain maybe. Now, well, she got that those regrets were the ones that hit you hardest. This free-fall into a whole new world of feelings and understanding was pretty terrifying right now.

"U-huh. Look darlin'," he cleared his throat and gazed off into the distance and Parker felt the hair on her body stand in fear as his voice got gruff. She was never ever bringing this up again. No way. It made her stomach squeeze and lungs burn. "I think we should be discreet about this...arrangement. Hardison is a good guy an' I don't wanna rub his nose in anything, or hurt his pride ya know?"

"Yup. Gotcha." Just stop talking and lets go back to making out in your truck. Oh crap there was more.

"There'll be a ton o' questions an' a ton of talkin' and I think we should just you know, keep it between us while we figure it out. That all right with you?"

"Totally. C'mon we should go." Parker stood up and ignored the fading panic. At least they still had an "arrangement." Man for a minute she thought he was going to call a halt to it again just after she had him admitting this thing wasn't going to end in Boston. What had she expected anyway? That he would be all, hell yeah let's tell everybody and hey, you can sit on my lap at all team meetings?

She sighed, unsure if what she wanted and what was happening would ever quite match up. She always seemed to want what she couldn't quite get. Eliot was Mr Privacy. What did figure it out mean anyway? What, like she was a problem he had to solve? She walked back to the truck, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"Want me to drive a while?"

"Sure." He tossed her the keys. She caught them with one hand and stared at them. Well at least she got to be in charge of something, even if it was just the freakin' steering wheel of the truck and not anything important, like oh, her life. She was used to making choices on her own and dealing with the fall out. Having to compromise with Eliot about this was weird. She wasn't sure she liked it. She didn't want to hurt Hardison, but she wasn't sold on the whole let's be secret lovers thing either. She had just discovered how kissable he was, and now had to work on not showing it. She wasn't that good a freakin' actress yet. Oh man. Boston sucked.

Eliot watched his blonde thief stride off and let out a rush of air from a breathe he hadn't been aware he was holding. Talk about a reality check. Fuck. He had just decided that a _thing_ with Parker wasn't gonna cut it, and figured he could warm her up to the idea of more than just sleeping together, despite her pretty clear descriptions of that being all she was after, when she reminds him of the team. Of Hardison. Of real life.

What a suck-fest of a cold shower that was. Jesus, he could just see Sophie's face if Parker decided to announce they were fuck buddies. The looks he'd get. Now it seemed that Parker's attraction to him may have initiated the whole epiphany over her and the hacker's lack of whatever, and like he could be that guy? Strut into work Monday and watch poor H's face when they heard that Parker had decided she wanted sex all right, just not with him? Screw that. No matter how amicable the mutual break up or whatever the hell it was, had been, that shit could cut a guy off at the knees. The idea of lying made him feel worse, but he justified it, figuring that if he and Parker ever got to redefining the whole just sex thing, well yeah, that was worth causing a little pain for. He hoped they would reach that stage. Her making plans for Christmas had way more to do with a grotto in the woods he knew that but it sneakily gave him hope. Hope that he had enough time to...what? Convince her he was worthy of more? Convince her of who he was? Like she didn't know already? Like Aimee hadn't fuckin' known? Jesus. This shit was beyond him. But he would speak to H. If, and it was a big if he realised, he managed to make Parker want more than just sex it had to happen. But now? Whilst it was all raw, and undefined? When it could be pointless harm caused, since the call could come any damn minute and it would all be a memory anyway?All sharing the news with the team would do would cause issues. He'd have to talk to H. Gauge his feelings on the break up. Parker, bless her unsociable heart wasn't exactly a people reader. H may have sounded cool but what if he wasn't? And Eliot could not imagine breaking up with Parker being in anyway easy to deal with.

Damn it this was not what he wanted on his mind for the rest of the drive. He was more than happy to forget Boston and its annoyingly needy residents till he was walking into Nate's apartment and facing them. Which made him a selfish dick but man, he and Parker had a nice easy vibe going and then bam. Boston freakin' massacred itself up all over it. He climbed into the passenger side and felt Parker's cool edge from a couple of feet away. She was not happy.

He wondered if she cared that the team knew or it had really just been a "musing". He had a feeling she would be happy for the guys to know they were sleeping together and really not get why it could be an issue. The image of her standing in Nate's kitchen eating cereal whilst the team stared at her in aghast after dropping the bombshell wouldn't go away, neither would the sound of her saying "What's the big deal? It's just sex people."

Kinda stung.

"Hey Parker?"

"Mmmhmm?" Oh she was really annoyed. He had been harsher than intended at the picnic bench and it wasn't her fault exactly. Well, it was, but...ah fuck. This thing would not last passed that damn call he was going to receive anyway right?

"Wanna forget Boston for the rest of the ride back?"

"Oh yes purlease. I really really do." Oh man she sounded relieved and eager to forget the complications looming. It made his chest tight suddenly, wondering if he'd somehow hurt her. He felt like he was wading in emotional quicksand.

"Cool." He turned up the radio, despite it being fraught with ridiculously insightful pop songs and leant back. Glancing over at her, he reached over and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her expression softened and he wished he could make this shit easy. Like a freakin' magic wand to wave over the team and have them be cool and happy with it and her sitting on his lap during the team meetings be totally not an issue. The idea was one that triggered something deeply primal within him, and he prayed that call was not imminent. Because he wanted her faith in him rock solid before that, and even now he felt like he was making a mess of it.

"Hey Parker?"

"Yeah?"

"Everything's gonna be okay you know." Dumb, but he wanted to say it to her and have her believe it. He could sense a tremulous fear in her and he hated it, very aware of how much she would hate feeling that way. Parker liked clarity and not just in diamonds. In life. The sooner he could get this clarified the better.

"Oh I know." Parker replied like duh, but with a hint of false bravado that got him good. He leaned over and kissed her cheek and she turned to kiss him on the mouth. Quick and hard. His skin started humming again.

"So," he growled to clear his throat and settled back, eyes on the road, Parker at the wheel. "If this is supposed to be a vacation for you, we should do some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Touristy stuff. A boat ride in Harrisburg, a walk in Central Park, a hot dog from a road side vendor you wish you hadn't eaten the next day. That kinda stuff." He had wanted a smile and got one.

"Can I get a tee shirt?"

"A tee shirt?"

"Yeah. And a trucker cap. That's what you do right? Oh and I'll need a giant slushy. And to take pictures in front of more street signs. Love that." She was talking again without the edge and he listened, fascinated at the way she saw the world. As if she were visiting it from another planet sometimes and had to act like the people she saw on TV to blend in. It was immensely appealing.

"Parker darlin', you can have whatever you want."

"Not always." She muttered it, but he heard and he glanced over, frowning.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Taylor Swift came on the radio, The Story Of Us, and Eliot went to change it, Parker's violent reaction to it before pretty fresh in his mind.

"Leave it." Parker was quick to stop him.

"Really? I thought you hated this song." He watched her curiously. Temperamental mercurial Parker. His Parker. He would never tire of keeping up with her. Go mad trying to make sense of her, but never tire of trying. The realisation formed a lump of something warm in his chest.

"It's grown on me." She said it haughtily and he smirked.

"Taylor 's a lovely girl you know, when I was helpin' out on that-"

"I like the song Eliot I don't wanna freakin' date her." The low rumble accompanying her words had him grinning and raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay okay, I was just sayin'." He smiled to himself. Jealousy. Huh. Good sign. Very good sign.

"Next chapter." She said it to him in time to the song and glared at him with it. Nice. It only made him grin wider, and his cheeks hurt with it as he looped an arm about her shoulder as she drove, settling up close, liking how she melted a little when he did.

"Let's see about gettin' you that slushy darlin'." He rubbed her nape and she leaned back into his hand, making him imagine her stretching in bed as she had done on waking. His gut tightened.

"Excellent suggestion Eliot."

By the time Eliot pulled up to his apartment in Boston at one in the morning, an exhausted Parker curled up with her head on his lap, her oversize tee shirt looking like a night dress, he was wondering why the hell he had suggested they keep their arrangement a secret. There was no way he was gonna last one day under the teams knowing eyes without giving away his feelings about the thief. Big badass feelings that seemed to grow exponentially the more he looked at her. Talked to her. Kissed her.

She stirred in his lap and sat up, yawning and blinking, the shades long abandoned since they weren't in keeping with "her disguise". Her words.

"We back?"

"Yeah." He knew he had to take her home and didn't want to. What a shmuck.

"You making pancakes then?" She grouched at him, like why weren't they inside with the pan on already. Eliot couldn't speak for a minute.

"It's one am Parker." The morning and what it would bring weighed heavy on his mind as he looked at her. He stroked her hair, loose and messy and she pouted and swivelled her head at him.

"Yeah, the official pancake hour. C'mon Eliot." She smiled blearily and threw her arms about his neck. "Make me pancakes and take me to bed." She yawned again.

He kissed her, and figured the morning was coming no matter what.

"You really tired huh?" She was adorable in her sleep mussed state. A swell of protectiveness threatened to smother his lungs.

"No. Not at all." She kissed him back in a pretty explicit demonstration of how very awake she was becoming. He didn't need asking twice.

The smoke alarm went off when the fist pancakes burnt but he made a second batch half an hour later with a smile on his face and Parker calling orders from the bedroom.

He told himself not to get used to this. But man did he want to.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Reviews rock : ) Please let me know what you think. ;)  
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**Not sure when the ending will be posted-shattered and R/L stuff to do. I know right? **

Parker walked into Nate's apartment with a bounce. Eliot had dropped her off at her place earlier after showering at his, to get fresh clothes and they hadn't said much other than see you later. It was weird but she missed him already. He had been her constant companion for such an intense period that she felt naked when she looked to her left and didn't see his profile as she had for most of the return journey.

Her back was aching like a mother now, the muscles protesting as they did a few days after a knock but she felt limber and satisfied and full of energy for whatever new job Nate had lined up.

Hardison was sat in the middle of the sofa facing the screen, and Sophie was making tea in the kitchen when she walked in and stupidly, her heart dropped when Eliot's familiar form wasn't sat in his chair. She had assumed he would be there already. A cold hand fisted about her lungs as the possibility of him already being called by Scarlet occurred to her. Oh. Since she had just spent the weekend with him fishing, even Parker realised that asking where he was immediately on entering would be suspicious. But she really wanted to. The question bubbled up her throat.

"Hey guys." Nonchalant. She slouched as she greeted them. Be cool. She could do that. Sophie looked at her, taking in her plaited hair and lilac vee neck tee shirt and black jeans with the suede boots she had bought in Morgantown. Well, Eliot had bought. Sophie took a sip of tea and raised a slim eyebrow.

"Blimey Parker if that's what fishing does for you I'm buying a rod!" Parker smiled with narrow eyes. Sophie shsuh, she mentally silenced the older woman and sat on the chair Eliot should be in.

Hardison glanced over, warily, and they both looked at each other in silence before both trying to speak at once.

"So did you catch much?"

"Did you Horde good?"

An awkward moment of chuckling followed, and then the hacker patted the sofa cushion next to him.

"Get your ass over here woman." She did and he hugged her, kissing her forehead and letting her go. Parker knew they were okay. It had been a concern she had tried to avoid thinking about all morning, but now she knew, she felt lighter.

"Sophie's right mama all that fresh air looks good on you." His expression was as subtle as a brick as he inclined his head, his scarf all but obscuring half his face as he waggled his brows at her. Parker wondered how people would make these faces at her with their eyebrows shaved off then ignored the image it created. Weird. She looked back at him blankly, and shrugged, Eliot's words about Hardison's pride ringing in her ears.

"It was okay. Where's Nate?" Not quite the verbal ninja now she thought sourly, but stuck with it.

"Nate and Eliot are meeting a new client this morning. Didn't y'all get my text?" Parker and Sophie both shook their heads, not all that bothered. Hardison rolled his eyes in his familiar under appreciated manner and carried on."We didn't need to be here this morning, figured I'd holler at my girls, giv'em a little extra R & R, y'know eke out the weekend an'-"

"I think my phone died while I was away." Parker looked at her cell and realised it was dead. She couldn't remember charging it and had a vague memory of Eliot saying he couldn't take a snap of her pretending to steal a police horse in Central Park for some reason. Huh. Now she knew.

"Ya _think_ it died? Parker my special special Parker," Hardison joined his hands in a steeple and pressed his lips with his fingers as he did when trying not to freak out. "We don't think our phones die. We live in the age of communication Parker, I need y'all to respect the shit I can do with these cells all right? I can find you on the moon baby, but not if y'all don't play your part, and charge the dang thing up."

She looked up at him, waving the dead cell with a shrug that said, okay? He gave her a quick hug and nodded, taking the abused object from her hand.

"Imma fix this no problem." She shrugged and joined Sophie in the kitchen, grabbing cereal from the cupboard.

"So who's the client?" she hopped on the counter, legs swinging. Sophie eyed her boots.

"Sorry?" Sophie picked up one of her swinging feet to study the black suede boot covering it.

"Who's the client." She repeated it slower. "Why haven't you gone? Nate always takes you."

"Oh. Right. Well, the client couldn't come here because of the bloody swines threatening to knee cap him if he tried to get help, bloody arseholes I tell you, I hope I get my gangland bitch on for this one those fellas won't know-"

"Loan sharks?" Parker stilled, the thought of Eliot getting jumped not at all pleasant.

"Worse, suits. Poor bloke is a whistle blower over environmental waste issues at his company." Sophie sipped her tea, and watched her take this in. "You all right lovely? You've gone a bit pale."

"Isn't this a police case? Why isn't the guy in protective custody?"

"As far as I know, corrupt cops are on the payroll. He is a paranoid mess poor lamb. Kind of muddies the waters for conventional justice. Nate'll sort it. Bloody hate these jobs though. Not at all glamorous. But you know Nate..."

Yeah. Parker did. It made her fidget. Getting involved in this kind of job never ended well, but these jobs were what Nate called their civic duty. She hated the idea of Eliot having to fend off the inevitable goons involved on the companies behalf.

"So where are they meeting?" Parker wondered if she could maybe follow just to make sure...

"Nate didn't say." Right. Jeez what was up with her? Like Eliot wouldn't freak out if she popped up behind a wall all, hey I'm here to help. She shook the stupidity away.

"Yo Parker your cell is charged up." Hardison tossed her the phone and she caught it.

"So we just have to wait?" She munched on more cereal. Sophie nodded. Hardison shrugged.

And Eliot was god knew where. Boston was living up to the sucky hype after all.

"Hey Hardison?"

The hacker looked at her, big eyes and a big heart.

"Will you show me something?"

/

Eliot let himself into his apartment gingerly, head pounding as he winced when the door swung shut behind him. Man he could really do with a little less confrontation to start his week. It was only 5 at night on a Monday, hours into this thing and the job already had him busted up. The company their client worked for were serious as a fucking heart attack about him not getting help. Nate had managed to get the guy and his family out of their house but only with Eliot acting as a human wall to the ex military ass wipes on their payroll. Fuck it hurt to be him sometimes.

A blonde streak tore out of the lounge and into his chest and he cursed out loud as Parker gripped his face in her small but firm hands. His black eye throbbed.

"Jesus Parker what the hell-"

"Do you have concussion? Do you want aspirin? I can hook you up with a dose of morphine if you need it I know a guy who knows a guy-"

"You know a morphine guy? You are never talking to him again I can tell you that-"

"Eliot you're a mess!" She was all but yelling at him. He winced, head shrieking.

"Easy on the volume darlin'. What are you doin' here anyway?"

"What? I-well, Nate called and said he was settling the client in a safe house and we'd be on in the morning."

"And? Not really in a gettin' my freak on mood Parker." He didn't want to bark, but man he felt like crap and having Parker see him like this so soon after having her look at him like Superman smashed his pride to pieces. He did not want her to see him as weak. Being considered a dick was easier to live with.

"Oh shut up Eliot." Parker kissed him and his bust lip stung but her lips were soft and he couldn't help but kiss her back, carefully, but with definite intent. Even broke up he wanted her. His body seemingly refusing to let a few cracked ribs or bruised thighs get in its way.

"Parker honey I gotta get myself fixed up." He ended the kiss reluctantly, and she nodded, taking the hand not currently holding his ribs together with a hope and a prayer.

"I ran you a bath already and made you a sandwich."

"You made me a sandwich?" He let her lead him, dazed and foggy. Sleep. That'd fix him.

"Yeah. I can cook if I have to you know." She sounded huffily wounded at his surprise.

He was gonna say something smart about making sandwich's not being cooking but he couldn't find the energy to be pernickity, knowing what she meant. Parker had ran him a bath and made him a sandwich. Huh.

"I got your first aid kit too, 'cos Nate mentioned you had a run in with the enemy." Her voice got chilly. "He should really reconsider his tone when he mentions things like that you know, far too casual. Flippant almost. I'll be talking to him abo-"

"Uh, honey, remember our talk about keeping this between us?"

"Oh that's not happening now." She sat him down on the bed and took his shoes off, and he watched her through half closed eyes. Parker was kneeling on his carpet talking his boots off. Maybe he was concussed after all. Shit maybe he was unconscious.

"Is this a coma dream?" It was a frighteningly real possibility. In his line of work, injury came with the territory and there had been a lot of fucking guys on him. Maybe even a car at some point...

"No. Eliot did you know that if you were in the hospital I might not be allowed to see you? Did you know that? Because we aren't family or married? Well screw that. You better freakin' make sure you never get put in hospital Eliot." She was extremely fierce about this.

"Didn't know that Parker. I'll try. " Oh man she was talking real fast and in all honesty he was struggling to keep up. She was undoing his belt and he stopped her, fumbling to do it himself."I have done this before darlin'."

"And when it's been really bad?" Oh man she was pissed off, hands on hips and lips pursed in judgement. Her hair was crinkly curly.

"Hired a nurse." Parker snorted at that and shucked his jeans off after the belt got dispatched across the room.

"Yeah well she can go help morphine guy 'cos you won't be calling her any more." Eliot smiled though it hurt like hell.

"I am okay Parker. You don't have to do this."

"You say that again and I will give a matching black eye Eliot." She frowned and touched his thigh, the left was pretty messed up but it was superficial and an ice pack over night would ease the swelling. Strapping up his ribs was awkward but he could do it alone. Had done it alone too many times to count. Parker's hands on him were pretty comforting though.

"Wait, what did you mean by, that's not happening now?" He finally recalled what started this spiral and she stepped close, easing his tee shirt over his head and kissing his face as he swore through the pain.

"The whole secret thing. I changed my mind."

"About what exactly?" He felt his stomach plummet, even as his head told him to focus. She was still here wasn't she? Gruff bastard that he was.

"Being your girlfriend."

Definite coma dream. Which sucked because he was pretty sure in films you didn't feel so much fucking agony in coma's. Man alive he hurt.

"And we are telling the team. Because Nate really needs to be way more specific than "Oh yeah Eliot got into it with the company men while we made a break for it. We'll talk tomorrow."" Parker did a really good impression of Nate. Eliot cocked his head up at her, his hair falling in his eyes. She brushed it away.

"That's a good Nate."

"Thanks. Bath."

She helped him into the tub and he lay back with a hiss.

"Can I get you anything?" She hovered at the door and he watched her, watched the varying expressions chase across her face. She was looking after him. As the hot water seeped into his skin and his head cleared of some of the fog he finally processed her words and managed to piece some sense out of them. And man if he didn't feel like a complete ass as he realised exactly what was causing her blue eyes to cloud lavender as she waited. Ah. Pleasure defied the odds and swarmed up his spine, warming him in a way the hot water never could and hope sparked bright in his chest.

He cleared his throat, a little amazed at the swiftness of what was happening but grateful as fuck now he understood her presence and exactly what it meant. His Parker. He had never been so happy to be injured in his life if this had triggered whatever had changed Parker's mind.

"Well I heard a rumour that my girlfriend's made me a sandwich."

Oh man her face lit from within and she was beautiful as she smiled widely, and she just nodded in that way she did, on the balls of her feet as she tipped forward with her whole body and then vanished.

Don't mess this up Eliot. He was as content as he'd ever been as he succumbed to the soothing bath, knowing that whatever reasons he had given himself to keep quiet had dissolved in the face of Parker's honesty. He wasn't about to throw her actions tonight in the shredder. Fuck that.

The team could suck it up. His thief had made a choice and no way was he giving her cause to regret it.

/

Hardison took it well. Eliot cornered him in the morning, and was as direct as he could be without going into detail about the weekend and disrespecting the guy who he cared about a lot. He and Parker were giving it a shot. The hacker looked a little shocked, and a trace of the maybes crossed his eyes, but they were cool. It was a huge relief. The team dynamic mattered, and internal fighting would fracture them in a New York minute.

Sophie was wide eyed and curious, but Nate halted her instant stream of questions with a discreet pat on the back and that, _enough_ face he did when he wanted the team to shut the hell up and let him finish.

Nate took him aside and they exchanged words. Mostly, hurt her and I'll kill you type words, and then practical talk about how he still needed him to be the hitter and Parker to be the thief and was that gonna be an issue? Eliot assured him it wouldn't. Probably a lie, but they'd deal. Nate didn't seem that surprised by the revelation, and shrugged when Eliot pressed him on it.

"You both used the same shampoo yesterday." Like that explained everything. And maybe it did.

Tuesday morning, after the declaration, Parker sat on the arm of his chair since his thighs were still strapped and he looped an arm about her waist as Hardison ran the information package and Nate outlined the plan. Parker had to plan a heist on the local police station's evidence lock up and H helped with scanning security from the van as she did re-con late and Eliot dosed up on pain killers to speed up his recovery, ribs creaking. He missed her in his bed.

Wednesday had Eliot running surveillance on the ground and Parker and H in the van, and Nate's plan, the Westchester Screw was in full swing. Parker and Hardison and Eliot argued over the comms about the name, H declaring it wasn't a screw but a Sting, Parker stating it was the Swizzle and Eliot telling them both to shut up, it was the Screw. The banter made him smile. That night, having been on the job late, Parker showed up afterwards and they made love like they hadn't seen each-other in weeks and his ribs didn't hurt at all when she rode him, and he kissed her fading bruises before they fell to sleep.

By Saturday the job was done, and Parker and Eliot left Nate's together, going for dinner before heading back to his place. His apartment was suddenly way more appealing than chillin' at Nate's after a job. Parker demonstrated her lifting technique from his inner jean pocket and an early night became a late night and then an early morning. He couldn't get enough of her. She vanished Sunday morning, but he let her be, taking the chance to train, now he was healing well. She arrived back mid morning and watched him on his mat, and his skin crackled under her gaze and when her hands smoothed over his naked back, and dipped below the waistband of his loose workout pants to cup his ass he abandoned his exercises in favour of picking her up and taking her to bed. It got sweatier than any mat workout. Best exercise ever he decided, as he pulled her head to his for a druggingly intimate kiss. Hell yeah.

They grocery shopped on Wednesday. She filled his kitchen with cereal and chocolate milk. He taught her how to make steak fajitas.

On Friday he got home and found a huge TV in his living room, and decided not to ask where it came from. They watched Animal Planet. She watered his vegetable patch and picked coriander and made an omelette. She said it tasted like summer and he had to agree. He liked her making a tip of his kitchen. He had no idea how she managed to use four pans, but the omelette was perfect so he just loaded up the sink and she dried as he washed.

The next job was a straight up grift, and Sophie relished it. Parker had Eliot keep his cop outfit on that night. Handcuffs got involved. Nate and Hardison got fed up with his huge fucking grin the next day but he couldn't give a shit. And considered investing in a sturdier bed. One with beams. Parker would dig that.

Their first fight was about a reckless jump she made during the next job. They had fought about stuff like that before and the team had weighed in with varying opinions. This time the team backed off and Nate ushered everyone else from his apartment. They returned to find Parker in Eliot's shirt and him in his long sleeved tee, his hair down rather than tied back and Parker sparkly eyed and pink mouthed. He dared them to comment, and they wisely refrained.

She had a nightmare on a Tuesday night, giving him a heart attack. Her trembling apologies broke his heart. He got dressed and drove her across town, and sat in his truck whilst she worked it from her system testing a new harness configuration. It took two and a half hours. She didn't say anything when she got back in the truck. Just kissed him. He held her tighter that night.

He used his contacts to try and track Scarlet, chasing down leads and running into dead ends. She covered her tracks good. He considered asking for help, then dismissed it. Exposing the team to her would only give the bitch more leverage. It was frustrating but he kept at it. Determined to get it done, old school way or not.

His apartment became littered with photographs of the weekend they didn't go fishin'. He felt full and at peace when he saw Parker and him staring at him from the mantelpiece and from his fridge door. She pinned their name cards on his pin-board.

He loved her.

They hadn't said it. Hadn't really said much of anything. Just cobbled a life together that worked, and that didn't cause tension at work, though Parker insisted on them having a fake couple cover in case she ever needed to visit him in hospital. It had really freaked her out that had. Parker and google did not mix well. She usually got outraged and had to eat extra cereal to get over the random shit she found out sometimes. He was touched and insulted by her insistence all at once. Touched she cared, and insulted she thought he couldn't handle himself well enough to keep out of hospital.

"Getting beaten up isn't the only way you could end up in hospital." She had looked at him the same way he looked at her sometimes. "You could be allergic to shellfish."

"I'm not."

"Bee stings."

"Nope."

"Have a heart attack."

"Gee thanks-"

"Get run over, suffer a brain aneurysm," she ticked them off an imaginary list with her fingers. "Bird flu, have a stroke, get attacked by a shark, spontaneously combust-"

"Got it Parker, I got it. Christ woman you're in a cheery freakin' mood." He hugged her and attempted to kiss her happy. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"It matters to me Eliot."

"Okay. I now pronounce us Mr & Mrs Smith for the purposes of defrauding the health care system into allowing hospital visiting rights in the event of my suffering an alligator attack. Happy?"

"Yeah." She kissed him, and that was that. Well, not entirely. They needed a wedding night after all.

Seven weeks after the wedding, the cell rang, waking Eliot from his sleep and he tiptoed from the room to answer it, feeling clammy and nauseous.

"Hello Scarlet."

/

Parker stretched, and kept on stretching in Eliot's new bed. Empty. Huh.

She looked at the digital display on the alarm clock. 3:37. She strained to hear, but he wasn't in the bathroom. An odd feeling of loneliness swept over her and she scrambled from the bed in one of his vests and wondered if he was watching TV. He wasn't.

He was gone. She stopped as glass sharp understanding dawned, and she sat on the sofa with a thud.

After everything, and getting so freakin' close...he was gone. Just vanished. His boots were gone, his cell. Jesus. _Him_. Eliot had left the fucking building. She felt sick. Then angry, then sad, furious, and terrified. Tears threatened as she gulped in deep breaths.

He hadn't even said goodbye.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**If you read, review! I love hearing your thoughts on this story, whatever they may be.**

**Go on, make a girl smile :) Sleep got sacrificed but I had to write it...so hope it's worthwhile. Split into two chaps to conclude. :)  
><strong>

**The Penultimate Chapter. Dum Dum Duuuum...:D**

Parker didn't return to bed. She went to her laptop, a gift from Hardison, and hooked it up to the printer in Eliot's office. Her hand was steady as a rock as she located the file on the screen and clicked print all.

It wasn't enough, but she was out of time.

/

The morning saw her sat outside Nate's apartment from 5 am, nursing a large coffee and wearing her all black clothes again. None of the bright tops she had started buying because they appealed to her happy mood were appropriate for what was about to happen.

In the end she couldn't wait any longer and got Nate out of bed. A sleepy looking Sophie too, but that hardly mattered to Parker.

She held up the print out picture of Scarlet to Nate's creased face and barged past him into the apartment.

"Why good morning Parker, no, no come on in you aren't interrupting anything and this isn't awkward _at_ all." Nate ran a hand through his short hair and Parker wondered if she was doing the right thing. Then she saw Sophie standing in the kitchen and her heart began pounding as the anxiety of the last hour roared up to greet the world.

"Parker love what the hell is it?" Sophie abandoned any embarrassment in favour of capturing the thief in her arms. "What's happened?"

Breathing got hard as putting it into words made it real. Oh god she didn't want it to be real. But it was.

"It's Eliot. He's gone."

They both regarded her cautiously, Nate squinting as he processed that.

"Gone?"

"Nate I have a job for us." She thrust the close up picture of Scarlet at him.

"Is this the client?" He went to take the picture, but she held it aloft.

"No. This is the bitch who's going down. I'm the client."

An hour later, Hardison had all the data she had acquired over the past seven weeks and combined it with the information Eliot had that she had lifted from his apartment and was organising his presentation.

"This why you asked about my facial recognition programme Parker?"

"Yeah. No way she is just Scarlet Woodeaves, I figured I could see if she had any hits on Interpol."

"International huh? What makes you so-"

"Scarlet Woodeaves has left the States twice. Bitch recruits and assigns off the books jobs from what I found in Eliot's notes. No way she doesn't jet set-she just wants Scarlet to be squeaky clean."

"You've been paying attention to my skills baby."

"Yes I have." Parker drawled it slow and fist bumped the hacker. Cross legged on the sofa, she stared at the screen. "Are you sure you can't track his cell Hardison?"

"Tried it and tried it mama. GPS has been disabled and I can't even ping it. I'm sorry."

"S'okay." But it wasn't and she felt sick.

Half an hour later, the team rose. Nate looked them all in the eye, and Parker wondered where Eliot was and if he was all right.

"Right then. Let's go steal Parker."

/

Four days later, the team watched as Scarlet Woodeaves was taken away by McSweeten and Taggert, her estate surrounded by Feds. Her world had crumbled. Hardison had located her off shore accounts, ties to organised crime across Europe were exploited, and after an Andover Triple, it wasn't just Parker who had been erased from the bitches information network of blackmail and intimidation, but dozens of ordinary people whose loved ones had been coerced into doing her dirty work un-sanctioned by any agency. Her status as a recruiter for the agency had been a cause for embarrassment and Nate had ensured the agency knew that any attempt to try and eradicate Scarlet from the charges of smuggling illegal firearms, money laundering on behalf of her off the books clients and tax evasion would end badly for them. They deleted Eliot's sealed files. Hardison confirmed it.

It wasn't enough for Parker. Four days had felt like four weeks. Never had a cell been an instrument of torture, but every second Eliot didn't call chipped away at something deep within her. Nate didn't stop her when she approached the agents at the car, ice in her veins.

"Gimme a minute with her would you?" McSweeten nodded, and Parker got into the drivers seat of the car with Scarlet cuffed in the back.

"Parker honey, how nice of you to give me a personal send off." The red head was cool, Parker gave her that. Excitement coupled with the chill in her blood. Not long now.

"Where is he?"

"Who's that now sweetheart?"

"How's that scar healing up there Scarlet? Still tender?"

"What, you think I believe you'd stab me again in front of Fed boys a and b? Come on now blondie. Even you aren't that crazy."

"I would seriously rethink that assumption if I were you." Parker stared into the rear view mirror and caught the red heads eye. And held it. Scarlet looked away first.

"Touch me and you'll be riding along behind in the next car honey."

"Oh I don't have to do it now." Parker pulled a blade from her pocket and spun it on a finger tip, eyes faraway as she considered what she could do to the bitch in the back seat with it. "You know what makes me such a very good thief Scarlet?"

"Your psychotic nature?"

"I can get in anywhere. No walls can stop me. No alarms. No guards. No lasers. No locks." She paused as she let that sink in, and was gratified by Scarlet's grimace however fleeting. "I can get to you any time I want."

"But-I, honey you can't-"

"I can. And I will. Every night they lock your door, you should know, they aren't making it harder for me. You know the hardest thing to do for a thief? Locating the goods. And I know where you'll be every day and night for the next 25 years to life. You should think about that."

"I don't know where he is." Scarlet cracked under Parker's dead eyed stare.

"You sent him there of-course you know." Parker's heart stopped pumping for a flicker.

"I put him on a plane to Russia. After that I have no clue."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I didn't have a job for Eliot. I auctioned him to the highest bidder." The blade began to spin again.

"You did what?" Parker whispered the words. Her heart was a stone plummeting south.

"I knew he would be working on getting you out of this so figured I'd milk my one shot for all I could. Put the word out that I had Eliot Spencer by the balls. The calls came flooding in. He's a popular boy our Eliot."

"Careful Scarlet. Give me a name." If she called him _our_ again she was dying of blood loss in the back seat regardless.

"Don't have one. It was a closed auction. Just numbers." Like the Fabergé Egg job. Huh.

"How much?" Scarlet blinked into the mirror. "How fucking much did you sell him for?"

"$1.5 million."

"That's ridiculous." Jesus Parker wanted to vomit. Eliot had a knack for pissing people off, but that was just beyond her comprehension. That was...revenge and hate and a whole lot of shit raining down on Eliot. Four days. Oh God.

"Why d'you think I took it?" Scarlet's snark wasn't helping. Parker narrowed her eyes on the red head and tried to clear her head.

"When were you paid?" Scarlet was eyeing the blade with the appropriate respect now.

"The minute he got on the plane." A weary shrug accompanied the admission. "Flight details are in my online diary."

Parker nodded woodenly. She began to climb from the car, then glanced at Scarlet who sagged with relief in the back.

"Hey Scarlet? I am coming for you. Never forget it." She palmed the blade and pinned Scarlet's shoulder with it, reopening the previous wound. The bitch cried out and the sound barely touched Parker's ears. Getting out, she called McSweeten over who stared at Scarlet in horror.

"Can you believe this one? Had a knife. You gotta be more thorough with your pat downs McSweeten, imagine what could have happened?" She patted his arm in a shoulda done better manner and returned to the team. Nate looked at her expectantly.

"It's not good." Tears threatened, but Parker refused to cry. She was tracking down Eliot and kicking his ass first. If he was-she refused to finish that thought, despite the silent cell being a dead weight in her pocket.

/

Days stretched and blurred into one, and it was impossible to distinguish between hours let alone days, it was all just time passing without Eliot. Parker wondered if this was normal. To be so messed up. She couldn't eat. Sleep was impossible. He consumed her every waking thought, and panic thundered up to claim her whenever those thoughts strayed into darkness. She wouldn't allow despair to take hold. She bugged Hardison every hour, on his case and falling out with him with every other word when he couldn't give her the answers she needed. The plane was tracked, the money transfer traced but none of it told them where he was. She raged at the hacker, and he took it. His own eyes were bruised from lack of sleep. Sophie looked like a ghost, and spent hours on calls to her European contacts. Tara called offering assistance. Everyone they knew and a whole lot of others besides were aware that the hitter was MIA. Nate looked gaunt by the tenth day. Sophie eyed him nervously, and he stared at the glasses of fellow patrons in the bar a little too long for comfort. His hands twitched and his eyes got bloodshot.

They were falling apart.

She went jumping every night. Watered his damn plants and stared at the picture she loved the most on his fridge. The one at the zoo, half dark half glow, in front of the Ocelot's enclosure. It just made her ache and want to scream all at once and she destroyed the new bed with a sledge hammer on the eleventh day. The smashed up frame littered the room and she dropped the hammer and nothing felt better. The emptiness just clawed away, hollowing her out, a minute at a time.

She refused to listen to his CD's any more, they reminded her of him training on his mat, going through his exercises; torso bare, hair tied back as she ate cereal at his breakfast bar and watched.

Instead she stole Hardison's ipod and worked out to it, the driving rhythms of his tracks suiting her mood as she rode on the bike Eliot hardly ever used. She cycled miles and miles and lost herself inside to the music, Eliot's face imprinted on her eyelids whenever she blinked. The pain she suffered in her heart whenever the traitorous voice in her head whispered doubts was all engulfing and Parker had never known that the heart muscle could physically hurt so much before. The steel box of Eliot rattled in her head and leaked continually, seeping into her bones and blood and skin. He was everything and he was gone.

How very fucking tragic.

She listened to Midnight Caller by Chase & Status on repeat, the words haunting her as she walked zombie like through each day, and she had regrets. Big regrets, and wished she could do what she had told him once in New York she couldn't. She wanted to steal time so badly it burned through her and snatched the air from her lungs. The song was dark and swallowed her in it, stripping her raw.

_When the feelings suffocate me and nobodies there_

_All alone I turn to you, to you, to you..._

_I am the midnight caller, are you ready for me now?_

_You know there could be no other, but your time is running out_

_I'll be yours forevermore_

_Make me yours forevermore_

_I'll be at the back door waiting, for your love anticipating,_

_Every step we'll make together, oh our love will be forever..._

The violence inside her had no release, and she replayed their last talk in her head endlessly, relived the moment of waking to find him gone. She was trapped in a cycle of whys and how's, why hadn't he said goodbye? Why hadn't he let her help him? How could he just leave her so easily?

What if he was gone for good?

_/_

They worked no other jobs.

Finally, they got a break from a lead in Prague through a contact of Sophie's. Renewed focus sharpened each of them, and Parker wondered if Eliot had any idea what he had done. They had all changed since he vanished. They had all mourned him, hated him, loved him, missed him.

On the eighteenth day since he left, they had cracked the murky chain of deals that had led to his capture. It was terrifying. A conglomerate had formed to ensure his purchase. Colombians, Triads and Iranians. Each wanted far more than his death. They wanted to exact punishment for a list of jobs he had operated that had fucked each of their gangs over. Hardison whistled as he examined the sealed files supposedly eradicated.

Eliot was not kidding about those bounties on his head. He was a wanted man in all corners of the world. The team didn't pause. They got to work. They boarded a plane on the nineteenth day.

/

Beijing was busy, sweltering and wet. There was no grift, no con, no game to be played. It was a straight up extraction. They did as Eliot would have. Nate held Sophie's hand and kissed her in a tea shop down-town as they all waited for dark, surveying the warehouse he was being held in according to their painstaking hard work. Hardison called his girlfriend, Holly the Horder as Parker called her. She was a spunky smart chick. They said little as they waited.

Parker felt nothing as she stared at the nondescript building standing alone down the street. She had closed down during the flight. Now she could barely summon a conscious string of words. There was just a building. A building with Eliot in it. The chatter of the locals and the traffic and the world itself existed beyond the bubble she and that building existed in. It pulsated in the rain, along with her steady heart beat.

Finally, Nate stood, and they left the shop.

Time to steal an Eliot.

/

Eliot was awake. Eyes half closed, listening intently, though he was pretty sure an ear drum had burst and sounds came at him slow and warped. He concentrated hard, snatching furious exchanges beyond the door of his cell in between beats of silence, of _nothing_ and tensed, ready for the next round. He would not break. It was a chant in his bones that would not fade.

He was getting out. Every day he learnt more about the layout of his prison, the fuckers who had him. The moments of lucidity between sedations were those he utilised to mentally harvest useful details from distractions. The chair he sat on was soaked, with blood and fuck knew what else, but he had been retied to it several times now and each time he woke, he knew something new, by the binds they used, the knots, the positioning. He was getting out of here.

He would not break. Parker's voice rang in his head. His promise not to get hospitalised seemed pretty dumb now. But he wasn't going to die here. He was not going out like this. Not to these bastards. He knew who they were. And he was not letting them make him break a promise to his thief. Acid bubbled in his gut at the very thought of her. Of the sight he had walked away from, her curled up in his bed, their bed. What a fucking schmuck. Every memory of her was sunshine. Warmed his soul. Her teasing, her laughter, her kiss. He wanted to see her again so badly that no matter what punishment they inflicted, it didn't touch the aching chasm in his chest where he kept her face. Her touch. He hallucinated that she was here so often, he started talking to her, and she made him laugh through the blood and fists and rage pummelled upon him daily.

The door opened and he flinched, ashamed of the light on his face. Showing his weakness, the damage done. Then he raised his face, eyes closed and grinned. Fuck them. He would heal and they would die.

"Eliot? Jesus Eliot is that you?" Hardison? He was confused. It was normally Parker who spoke to him when he flamed out.

"Hardison? What are you doing here?" His voice was a raw break in the room, and he coughed, ribs sharp.

"Well it ain't for the Kung Pow Chicken my man." Stupid tears stung his eyes as he barked a rough laugh. Even in his fucked up imagination, H was a smartass. God damn hacker. The hands fumbling at his bonds freaked him out and he started, then felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"'S okay Eliot. We got you." A thread of hope span silver through his brain and he opened his eyes, still convinced it was the drugs.

"Hardison?" It came out as a plea but he didn't give a fuck. The hacker crouched down in front of him so he could see his face. Eliot's bonds fell away but it took an age to move his arms round to his front and rub his wrists. Everything hurt. H untied his feet.

"One and only baby." The hacker paused, and his face looked different than Eliot remembered. Older. "If it wasn't such an unfair situation, I would knock you the fuck out Eliot. All Imma say. All Imma say on the topic. Ended. Line drawn. Now get the hell up so we can blow Beijing. This place don't even have Facebook. That shit is messed up. I had to jump through hoops like a freakin' twelve year old to get on-"

"Hardison?" _Parker._ "Shut up." Parker's voice. Eliot struggled to stand and wavered. A familiar small body slipped to his left and raised his arm over her shoulder. Hardison's grabbed the other. Eliot was too bust up to care as he let them take his weight. He could smell her hair, feel it against his cut face and gripped her arm, checking she was solid. This had coma dream potential after all.

"Parker are you all right?" A croak but he couldn't clear his throat because it was raw and bloody from screams he could not contain. He tried to turn to look at her, but she used her hand to straighten his head to face forward.

"Am I all right?" Disbelieving. Aloof. Oh man even half dead Eliot knew that was bad. "If I look at your face Eliot I'm gonna lose it so do us both a favour and shut up and keep walking."

"Parker I'm sorry."

"I have no qualms about beating your beaten ass like Hardison Eliot. So Shut. Up." Oh man he heard the break in her steely tone.

"Nate? Sophie?"

"Outside in the truck. Jesus Eliot we gotta get you to hospital man. Bro' you're bleeding all over my freakin' pants." H sounded worried and grossed out. It made Eliot want to laugh but there was nothing left. He noted the unconscious bodies they passed through the warehouse and felt proud of his team mates and then horrified at what he had turned them into.

"When did you two get all..." Man it hurt to talk. "Batman crazy?"

"Toxic tea baby. We only had to deal with a few after that." He suddenly noticed both Parker and H were wearing Chinese straw hats around their necks, pushed back from their heads. Parker did love her disguises. H carried on talking. "You shoulda seen it man, we were all "heeeyaaah.""He did his Bruce Lee impression that insulted the legendary actors memory but Eliot let it go. It was too hard to think straight. To believe this was real. Parker remained silent but bristling to his side. A thousand words filtered through his brain and every damn one fell short of what he wanted to say to her.

What a sorry son of a bitch he was.

They made it to the truck, Nate driving, and Sophie gasped when she saw him, and her pained "Eliot" ripped him open anew. Fuck it was hard with these guys seeing him like this.

"Give him the morphine." Finally Parker spoke and his chest bloomed in reaction. Sophie tapped a needle above him as he lay on the stretcher in the back of the truck but it was getting foggy as he tried to see just one of her. He clung to consciousness with a death grip.

"Thought I told you not to talk to that guy again?" Every word stung his throat but he tried to smile, wanting to lighten the fearful atmosphere of the truck. To lighten the doom on Parker's face.

"It's his Chinese cousin so deal with it. Just shush Eliot. Just freakin' shush would you?" She was keeping it together by a thread. He fought the oncoming tide of darkness, desperate to make amends but having no clue how. He needed to know if it was repairable. Needed to know before he let the curtain fall in his mind that she was going to forgive him.

"Hospital is four minutes away," Hardison navigated for Nate in the passenger seat and the truck lurched through rain streaked streets in down town Beijing and Eliot latched on to the statement. He lifted a hand to Parker, but couldn't tell if she took it, or even noticed it.

"So am I still Mr Smith Parker?" So hoarse, man he wondered if he would ever sound like himself again. Finally small hands held his between them, cool and firm. He closed his eyes, anchored her her presence, terrified of what she would say in response.

"You think this is funny Eliot?" A stark pained demand from his thief. Jesus this truck ride was more brutal than the beatings. He felt the teams censure, their fear and anger and relief battering him worse than any fists or feet. Fuck.

"I was jus' tryin' ta-"

"Lighten the bloody mood?" Sophie interjected with an incredulous snort. "Great timing there hotshot. I could bloody well kill you you know that? Only funerals I do well at are my own Eliot. Everyone knows that." Oh darlin' Sophie. He tried to respond but Parker squeezed his hand and the morphine kicked in. He heard her whisper as he faded out.

"Mr Smith's out for the count. Where's the freakin' hospital Nate?"


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**I'm gonna miss writing this...sob. :(**

**Hope you like it. Cos this is it. :P  
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He woke in a hospital bed, in a private room, hooked up to an IV. Feeling like he had been dropped from a plane. Sans parachute. Nate was leaning by the door, watching him. He looked exhausted. And pissed off.

"Hey." Eliot tried out his vocal chords, and thankfully they obeyed.

"You fucked up Eliot." Wow, Nate was taking no prisoners. No, how you feeling? No, can I get you a nurse? Just right to it. Eliot winced.

"Nate man, I did what I thought-"

"You know what kills me about this Eliot?" Nate reached the bed and leant down, haggard and dishevelled. Eliot wanting to shut out the look in his eyes. Disappointment. Worse look ever. He shook his head, unable to speak.

"You say we're family. Expect us to trust you with our lives, over and over and we do, without pause or hesitation." Nate stared at the bed sheets before looking up again, fierce with righteous rage. "Yet you don't afford us the same fucking courtesy. Family does not run one way Eliot. You understand? If we're a team, then we _are_ a team."

"Nate, I just didn't-" Man he felt hit in the head, and emotion smashed into him, swarming through his veins as the impact of his lone wolf attitude grew clearer.

"I don't care. I lost a son Eliot. I lost a son after exhausting every avenue to save him and I'm never getting over it. How dare you not even give me a chance to fix this for you." Nate ran a hand over his face and Eliot swallowed, heart hammering, noting the tremor in Nate's fingers. "What is it with you Eliot? Haven't we all gotten over this shit? Families don't need martyrs Eliot. They need trust."

They regarded each other in silence, Eliot letting the words sink in. Man he had fucked up. Big.

"If the Triads hadn't already done such a sterling job I'd put you in here myself. Did you think I was kidding about not hurting Parker? Was I not explicit about that?"

"Parker? Is she here? Where-"

"She's asleep. They hooked her up to an IV and she's out. Hasn't slept or eaten properly since..." Nate looked to the ceiling, and the thick words broke Eliot in half.

"I never meant to hurt her Nate. I was trying to protect her. Protect all of you."

"Right. You arrogant son of a bitch. And who protects us from you huh? From you and your god damn suicidal tendencies? I suggest you think long and hard on that before coming back to us Eliot. We won't do this again. We can't."

He walked away. And Eliot realised he had tears on his cheeks as he watched him leave.

/

He woke in the night and Parker was wrapped to his side, her cheek on his chest, her hand on his waist a light kiss. His heart constricted as he noted her hospital gown.

"Why aren't you in your bed resting? Not eating? What the fuck Parker-"

"Yell at me right now and I swear to God I will roll this stretcher into oncoming traffic." Low and steely and sincere.

"Duly noted. Parker-"

"Why didn't you say goodbye?" She lifted up onto an elbow and stared at him, pale in the gloom.

"I-I didn't want you to follow me." Liar. Eliot knew why. Because he was a coward.

"Just like that? It was so easy for you?"

"It wasn't easy Parker! Shit I watched you and nearly woke you up a dozen times I just-"

"Punked out. Got it." Eliot closed his eyes.

"I thought you'd look at me different Parker all right? I knew when I got back you'd look at me different because of what I had to do. I didn't want you to lose faith in me." The words rushed out and he winced as he tried to shift in the bed. To get her closer in case this was it.

"I thought I was the emotional cripple in this thing?" Parker sighed, resting her chin on her hand, her hair tickling his chest and bandages. She sounded so close to tears he couldn't stand it. "Don't you get it Eliot? You were so worried about my faith in you that you forgot something way more important."

"What's that darlin'?" He grew anxious, hearing so much in her tone he couldn't quite work out, and unsure of the answer coming.

"You forgot to have faith in me." So small, her voice was so small but the words so big. Shit. He hadn't considered that. Hadn't considered that at all.

/

A week later in Boston, they dropped him at his apartment and helped him inside. The crutches he had to use got on his nerves, but the team made no comment as he cursed his way up the stairs to the front door and then the elevator.

At the door of his bedroom he took in the smashed up bed and looked at Parker who shrugged.

"I kept your plants alive." Right.

"Delivery of a new bed T minus two hours." Hardison scrolled through his cell, eyebrows raised as he took in the destruction. "Maybe we should uhm, clear this snaffu up."

Eliot was left on the sofa while they eradicated all trace of Parker's meltdown. Words clogged his throat. Every time he went to speak, one of them looked at him and he couldn't voice anything. Anything at all. Sophie made him tea. Nate ordered take out. They all agreed on pizza over Chinese.

They passed him on their way to and from the door carrying the remnants of the bed, and sleep claimed him. When he woke they were all on the sofas, eating pizza, Nate flicking through channels on the TV Parker had acquired. H was on Parker's laptop Skyping his girlfriend. Sophie was dismissing each film Nate paused on bemoaning the actresses in it and describing why she should have won that role. Parker sat at the breakfast bar, eating cereal, watching with hooded eyes. He missed her next to him. He felt further away from her than he had in Beijing.

"Thank you." The two words grabbed their attention, and familiar eyes swivelled to face him.

"Thank you for...coming to get me. Stubborn ass hole that I am." They waited expectantly and he shifted awkwardly, rubbing an aching hand over his nape.

"Not so bloody easy is it Eliot?" Sophie's soft query made him smile in understanding. No. It really wasn't. He met her gaze and her eyes softened, and it encouraged him to find his voice.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't have faith in you. All of you. I-"

"Suck. Yeah we know." Hardison rolled his eyes. "We cool man."

"Are we?" The team grumbled but nodded, and Parker just stared. Fuck.

The bed arrived and he was put in it, falling asleep with them all stood around him, watching. Should have freaked him out. But it didn't.

A few minutes after they left, a small body climbed in beside him, and he thought he might cry. Badass Eliot Spencer wanted to sob like a fucking baby he was so grateful.

"I don't deserve you Parker. You know that right?" Pain meds and tiredness combined to make his words slur at the end.

"If you keep that up we'll never get past this." His wise thief again, startling in her honesty. "We all deserve to be loved Eliot. If you don't believe that what's the point?"

"I-" He willed the words to form in his hard to operate mouth. "I love you. I figured that was enough."

"Eliot." She sighed his name and snuggled closer, mindful of his injuries though he didn't give a crap. "It's not enough." Man his heart near broke with grief. Regret. She reached up and kissed his cheek, the beard still unshaven since his face was still multicoloured and split open.

"You gotta let me love you back." His heart burst into fierce flames and he crushed her to him, and pressed kisses to her hair, ignoring the pain, and the silent tears leaking from his scrunched up eyes.

"I'm gonna try Parker. I swear it. I'm gonna try." And he meant it.

"I'm not giving you a choice stupid. Go to sleep."

He did.

/

In the morning, he stumbled from the bedroom on one crutch, looking for Parker and finding a hive of activity in his apartment instead. The screens from Nate's were being screwed to his wall by Hardison. Sophie was in his kitchen watering the plants and discussing Parker's sunshine yellow shirt. Nate was shuffling through paperwork on the breakfast bar.

"Guys? What's going on?" Nate glanced over at him.

"Well if Mohamed can't come to the mountain...ugh, we figured this way you could recuperate quicker without the added hassle of travelling across town every day. Yeah. Anyway, gather round people."

Parker approached and kissed him soundly, his knees weak afterwards. Man he could not heal quick enough he realised gratefully as she held his hand and led him to a seat.

"Two secs my good people and-" Hardison tapped some things on his laptop, a screwdriver between his teeth. He removed it and grinned. "Et voilà!"

The screens came to life, and the team applauded him as he bowed with a flourish.

"Can you speak French?" Parker was impressed. H gave her a say-what-now look.

"Nuh uh, I was just you know-adding some flare."

"Oh. It worked." She leaned against Eliot's shoulder, her hair smelling like coconuts as she munched on a box of cereal and nestled into his side.

"Why thank you Parker- I've been tryin' to up my game with-"

"Er guys?" Nate coughed and broke the inane chat. He waved a folder. "Run it Hardison."

"Wait what?" Eliot sat up, anxious. "Nate I'm not a hundred percent man, I can still do what I got to but this crutch ain't sturdy enough to use as a weapon if I need it man-" He waved the crutch to demonstrate his point but Nate raised a hand to cut him off.

"Relax. This isn't that kind of job."

"Oh." Eliot slumped back, feeling useless. Couldn't even heal quick enough to be the hitter for his team. Man he had messed up so bad with that Scarlet shit.

"Eliot you aren't just our punching bag." Nate was direct and annoyed. "I need you on this. Can you stop your pity party and let Hardison impress us with his magic?" Wow. Eliot felt his heart expand to let his team in even further.

"Oh sure, sorry, go 'head Hardison, my bad bro'." He raised a hand in apology to the hacker who fist bumped his chest in thanks.

"I love you Eliot." Parker just said it, bold as day as she smiled at the screens and they all turned to look at her in shock. Parker showed, she rarely told.

"Love you too thief." He had to say it didn't he? He turned and kissed her, and forgot the team existed till Nate stopped Sophie's ahhing and Hardison's teary "oh man that's just beautiful, I gotta call my girl," with a gruff "Okay then. Enough. Unless anyone else has any inappropriate declarations to make during a staff meeting?"

Eliot broke the kiss reluctantly and smiled into Parker's eyes as Sophie and Hardison burst into their own confessions of love for each team member and Nate hung his head in mock despair.

"Told you everything would be all right." Parker grinned at him smugly and he caught her to him.

"I think I told you that if you recall-"

"Ah but I said it first so I win." Indisputable Parker logic. He wasn't leaving her again. Ever.

Eliot laughed as Nate tried to call some kind of order and Parker chipped in with her own emotional confessions for the team she viewed as family.

He was such a lucky son of a bitch. Hardison called him out with a heartfelt speech of brotherly love and he hollered right back, as the hacker fist bumped him with a mock sob.

Because that's what you did with people you loved he realised, finally getting what a two way street it should be. You looked after them, and they looked after you back.

You just had to let them.

The End

/

**Notes: So what's the verdict folks? That's all she wrote, so let me know what you thought of it.**

**Good, bad, whatever. All helps a writer grow. I'd love to hear from the silent readers now it's done...**

**And this is the longest thing I ever wrote, so I am proud of it regardless, and am really glad I shared the journey with you bundles of human awesomeness. You encouraged me every step and I probably wouldn't have got to the end with out you. In fact I know I wouldn't. Thank you from the bottom of my heart- that encouragement means more than you'll ever know. **

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**UPDATE: So I am toying with the idea for a sequel after some lovely folks gave me some ideas and wondered what you thought?**

**Would a sequel work? Do you have any ideas for me? Should we just leave them to it? Do we want to get to know Holly for Hardison?**

**As Anonymous me points out, Christmas in Virginia would be gorgeous...lol. ;)  
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**Let me know in reviews, either way. You guys rock. :)**

**Emma**

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	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: Wait, I don't think I need one? Wow, that's weird. **

Oh except this isn't really a chapter. Sorry 'bout that!

Okay, I am posting this basically because I am still getting messages etc about a sequel, and I am happy to answer them all xxx I am a pm freak you all know that, but I figured, I could do this too.

En masse as it were. Most of you already know I am sure but for those who have expressed an interest (much hugs btw):

I _have_ started a sequel, and its **The Happy Ever After Job.**

It isn't quite as straightforward as the title would suggest. ;)

So that's that.

Oh, and today I got messaged that CK wrote on his twitter that he was driving and something about loving driving on his own and having hours to go -I guess he's going on tour with his music, (which rocks) and anyway I don't do twitter but it made me all nostalgic about _this_ road trip, and Eliot & Parker. :(

Which is ree-diculous. But there ya go. LOL. :P

Thanks for still reading and reviewing, it never gets old, and I heart you guys for inspiring me all over again!

x

Skips off.


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